TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (9) TMI 912
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....de returnable forthwith. Shri K.K. Bissa appears for respondent. 3. Petitioner is a public charitable trust registered under Rajasthan Public Charitable Trusts Act, 1959. Petitioner-trust was being maintained by one Anandi Lal Mehta, who was the then President of Trust. The said Anandi Lal Mehta suffered a severe brain stroke and was consequently hospitalized for an extended period of time. Due to his medical condition, accounts of petitioner for Assessment Year 2018-2019 got audited on 23rd February 2019 after a delay of 115 days and the auditor of petitioner uploaded Form 10B on income tax e-portal only on 20th September 2020 with a delay of 700 days after the due date. The said Anandi Lal Mehta unfortunately also died later on 27th No....
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....lay condonation application should have been allowed. Courts have repeatedly held that such approach in the cases of present type should be equitious, balancing and judicious. Even though technically and strictly and liberally speaking, respondent might be justified in rejecting application but the assessee, a public charitable trust, with so many years of charitable activities, which otherwise satisfies the condition for availing such exemption should not be denied the same merely due on the bar of limitation especially when the legislature has conferred wide discretionary powers to condone such delay on the authorities concerned. 9. We find support for this view of ours in the judgment of Bombay High Court in Al Jamia Mohammediyah Educ....
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....ion of the Delhi High Court in the case of G.V. Infosutions (P) Ltd. v. Dy: CIT [2019] 102 taxmann.com 397/261 Taxman 482. We may quote the relevant observations thus: "8. The rejection of the petitioner's application under section 119(2)(b) is only on the ground that according to the Chief Commissioner's opinion the plea of omission by the auditor was not substantiated. This court has difficulty to understand what more plea or proof any assessee could have brought on record, to substantiate the inadvertence of its advisor. The net result of the impugned order is in effect that the petitioner's claim of inadvertent mistake is sought to be characterised as not bona fide. The court is of the opinion that an assessee has t....
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....us, balancing and judicious. Technically, strictly and liberally speaking, the respondent no. 2 might be justified in denying the exemption under section 12 of the Act by rejecting such condonation application, but an assessee, a public charitable trust past 30 years who substantially satisfies the condition for availing such exemption, should not be denied the same merely on the bar of limitation especially when the legislature has conferred wide discretionary powers to condone such delay on the authorities concerned." 10. In our view also, it does not appear that assessee petitioner was lethargic or lacked bona fide in making claim beyond the period of limitation. In fact, we do not understand why would any party, who is entitled to cl....