Condonation of delay in Form No. 10BB filing allowed, with Section 11 exemption claim restored for merits verification.

Delay in filing Form No. 10BB for charitable exemption was treated as condonable where the return was filed in time and the circumstances warranted a justice-oriented approach. Relying on prior decisions, the Tribunal restored the matter for verification instead of rejecting the exemption claim on limitation alone. The Assessing Officer was directed to examine the assessee's claim under Section 11 on merits after condoning the delay in furnishing the audit report.

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Issues: Whether the delay in filing Form No. 10BB could be condoned and the assessee's claim for exemption under Section 11 could be restored for verification on merits.

Analysis: The assessee had filed its return within time but Form No. 10BB was filed 30 days after the extended due date. The Tribunal noted the jurisdictional High Court's view that delay in filing the audit report for charitable exemption should be approached in a justice-oriented manner and that similar delays had been condoned in earlier decisions. It also relied on the Coordinate Bench decision in the assessee's own case for the earlier assessment year, where delay in filing Form No. 10B had been condoned and the matter remitted for verification. In these circumstances, the requirement of filing the audit report within time was treated as capable of being condoned, and the issue of exemption was not finally decided on merits at this stage.

Conclusion: The delay in filing Form No. 10BB was condoned and the matter was restored to the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer to verify the assessee's claim under Section 11 on merits.

Ratio Decidendi: Delay in furnishing the audit report for charitable exemption can be condoned where the circumstances justify a justice-oriented approach, and the exemption claim should then be examined on merits rather than being denied solely on limitation.

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