9911796707
TMI Blog1997 (10) TMI 41X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ection 12A of the Income-tax Act, 1961, by application dated July 13, 1993, which was granted to the petitioner by the impugned order dated November 3, 1993, only with effect from April 1, 1993, and not from the date of its establishment. As condonation of delay in making the application was refused, the petitioner-society filed an application for review, which remained undecided with the result the petitioner has filed this petition. Section 12A of the Income-tax Act, 1961, reads as under : "12A. The provisions of section 11 and section 12 shall not apply in relation to the income of any trust or institution unless the following conditions are fulfilled, namely:--- (a) the person in receipt of the income has made an application for regi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ear the report of such audit in the prescribed form duly signed and verified by such accountant and setting forth such particulars as may be prescribed." The learned Commissioner of Income-tax has rejected the request of the petitioner for benefit of the provisions from the date of the registration of the society on the ground that the application was filed in the prescribed pro forma after one year and six months and the reasons furnished were not satisfactory. It is this part of the order that the petitioners have challenged. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the society was registered under the Madhya Pradesh Societies Registration Act, 1973, on October 31, 1991, and therefore, the petitioner-society was required to mak ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the total period after which the application was made. The learned Commissioner was, therefore, required to examine whether sufficient reasons existed for not making the application in the prescribed pro forma within the prescribed period of one year and not with reference to the total period that elapsed before making the application. It is, thus, clear that the learned Commissioner has not approached the matter from its correct perspective. The learned Commissioner has recorded that the reasons furnished were not satisfactory. "Not satisfactory" is a conclusion and cannot be a reason by itself and it was necessary for the learned Commissioner to have given reasons why the explanation for not making the application in time was not satisfa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of hearing before an order in this behalf is passed on the ground that the reasons furnished by the applicant were not satisfactory. Thus, examined from any angle, the impugned order, in so far as it denies the benefit for the period prior to April 1, 1993, cannot be sustained and the matter deserves to be remitted back to the learned Commissioner for decision in accordance with law.
Accordingly, this petition is partly allowed. The matter is remitted back to the learned Commissioner to consider the application for grant of benefit under section 11 with effect from the date of registration of the petitioner-society and for decision in accordance with law. There shall, however, be no order as to costs. X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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