ITAT set aside the impugned order rejecting the assessee's...

ITAT set aside the impugned order rejecting the assessee's application for registration under section 12AB, concluding the rejection was based on a procedural/clerical misdescription of the provision in Form 10A and was effected without affording an opportunity to rectify. The Tribunal held that procedural lapses should not defeat substantive entitlement where the assessee is otherwise eligible and that denial without opportunity to cure violates principles of natural justice. The matter is remitted to the file of the CIT(E) with a direction to admit the application and adjudicate the registration claim on merits after affording the assessee a chance to rectify the defect.

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