Income Tax Appellate Tribunal - Delhi
Sandal Kalan Shri Radha Krishan Gopal ... vs Cit(E), Chandigarh on 12 October, 2017
IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL
DELHI BENCH "A", NEW DELHI
BEFORE SHRI R. K. PANDA, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER
AND
MS. SUCHITRA KAMBLE, JUDICIAL MEMBER
ITA No.5015/Del/2015
Sandal Kalan Shri Radha Krishan CIT(E), Chandigarh.
Gopal Adrash Gaushala,
Village- Sandal Kalan,
Vs.
Distt. Sonepat,
Haryana.
PAN : AALAS7176F
(Appellant) (Respondent)
Assessee by : Shri S. R. Parashar, Adv.
Shri S.S. Parashar, Adv.
Department by : Smt. Aparna Karan, CIT(DR)
Date of hearing : 28-09-2017
Date of pronouncement : 12-10-2017
ORDER
PER R. K. PANDA, AM :
This appeal filed by the assessee is directed against the order dated 12.05.2015 of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemptions), Chandigarh (in short "the CIT") denying registration u/s 12AA of the I.T. Act, 1961.
2. Facts of the case, in brief, are that the assessee society filed application in Form No.10A on 10.11.2014 ld. CIT called for a report from the ITO (Exemptions), Rohtak who sent a report through Joint Commissioner of Income Tax, Range-2, Chandigarh, not recommending registration u/s 12AA of the I.T. 2 ITA No.5015/Del/2015 Act. It was reported by the Assessing Officer that the society was created on 14.08.2013 but so far the society has not filed any Income Tax Return despite having receipts of Rs.44.52 lakhs for the assessment year 2014-15. Since the society is not following the provisions of Income Tax Act, 1961, therefore, he did not recommend the registration u/s 12AA of the I.T. Act. The ld. CIT further noted form perusal of income and expenditure account for the year ending 31.03.2014 that the assessee has received a sum of Rs.3,430/- on account of sale of milk. He observed that the society started working on 14.08.2013 and the amount of Rs.3,430/- towards sale of milk pertains to the period of 8 months. This, according to him, shows sale of milk approximately at Rs.428 per month. He observed that the society in its application for registration u/s 12AA stated that there are about 400 cows in the Gaushala and the same is increasing day by day. Out of these 400 cows, there must be 30 to 40 cows which are providing milk. Each cow provides approximately 5 to 6 liter per day. Therefore, there must be 150-200 liter of milk produced in a month. Thus, according to the ld. CIT, the assessee society has sold the milk outside the books of accounts. In view of the above, he denied the registration u/s 12AA to the assessee.
3. Aggrieved with such order of the ld. CIT, assessee is in appeal before the Tribunal.
3ITA No.5015/Del/2015
4. Ld. counsel for the assessee strongly objected to the order passed by the ld. CIT. He submitted that the copy of the report of the Assessing Officer was not supplied to the assessee which is an utter violation of principles of natural justice. He submitted that the ld. CIT only on the basis of the report of the Assessing Officer has denied registration u/s 12AA of the I.T. Act. He submitted that merely because the assessee society has not filed its return of income, the same cannot be a ground for rejecting the registration u/s 12AA of the I.T. Act. Further, the observations of the ld. CIT that as against the number of cows being 300 to 400 the sale of milk shown at Rs.3,430/- in 8 months and that the assessee society has sold the milk outside the books is imaginary and without any basis. He accordingly submitted that the order of the ld. CIT should be set-aside and the assessee society be granted registration u/s 12AA of the I.T. Act.
5. Ld. DR on the other hand submitted that filing of income tax return is a requirement for granting registration u/s 12AA of the I.T. Act. Referring to the order of the CIT, she submitted that no details have been filed by the assessee in support of his claim along with application in Form No.10A. Therefore, the ld. CIT was fully justified in rejecting registration u/s 12AA of the I.T. Act.
6. We have considered the rival arguments made by both the sides, perused the order of the ld. CIT and the Paper Book filed on behalf of the assessee. We have also considered the various decisions relied on by the ld. counsel for the 4 ITA No.5015/Del/2015 assessee. A perusal of the order of the ld. CIT in the first paragraph shows that the assessee has apparently not filed any details along with Form No.10A. For the purposes of ready reference the same is reproduced which reads as under :-
"An application in Form No.10A was filed by the applicant on 10.11.2014 in the office of Commissioner of Income Tax, Rohtak which was transferred to this office due to change in jurisdiction. No further details apparently have been filed by the assessee in support of their claim."
7. Similarly, we also find that the report of the ITO (Exemptions) was not confronted to the assessee society. It appears from the order that neither full details were filed before the CIT nor the principles of natural justice has been followed by the ld. CIT while rejecting the application for registration on the basis of the report of the ITO (Exemption). Considering the totality of facts of the case and in the interest of justice, we deem it proper to restore the issue to the file of ld. CIT with a direction to give one more opportunity to the assessee to file full details so as to unable the ld. CIT to take a practical view of the situation. The ld. CIT is also hereby directed to provide a copy of report, if any, obtained from the Assessing Officer to the assessee so as to enable the assessee to make its submissions. The matter is accordingly restored to the file of the ld. CIT with a direction to adjudicate the issue afresh and in accordance with law after giving due opportunity of being heard to the assessee. We hold and direct 5 ITA No.5015/Del/2015 accordingly. The grounds raised by the assessee are accordingly allowed for statistical purposes.
8. In the result, the appeal filed by the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes.
Order pronounced in the open Court on this 12th day of October, 2017.
Sd/- Sd/-
(SUCHITRA KAMBLE) (R. K. PANDA)
JUDICIAL MEMBER ACCOUNTANT MEMBER
Dated: 12-10-2017.
Sujeet
Copy of order to: -
1) The Appellant
2) The Respondent
3) The CIT(E)
4) The DR, I.T.A.T., New Delhi
By Order
//True Copy//
Assistant Registrar
ITAT, New Delhi