Maheswara Educational Society, v. Director of Income Tax (Exemptions)
Case brief
What is this about?
Telangana High Court, Division Bench (P. Sam Koshy & Narsing Rao Nandikonda JJ.), 09-04-2025, ITTA No.90 of 2008, Maheswara Educational Society v. Director of Income Tax (Exemptions): section 12A registration denied retrospectively from 15.05.1989, granted only from 01.04.2004; condonation of delay refused; grounds of accountant's inadvertence and income below Rs.1 crore held self-contradictory; existing Section 10(23C)(iii ad) exemption showed awareness of statutory requirement; Bar Council of Maharashtra, Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh, Seimens Engineering & Manufacturing, Woolcombers of India, Village Life Improvement Foundations, Shrimanta Shankar Academy (x2) and Mahasabha Gurukul Vidyapeet Haryana distinguished on facts; ITTA dismissed without costs.
What did the court decide?
The appellant's two explanations for the delay in seeking section 12A registration (inadvertence of its Accountant, and gross income crossing Rs.1 crore only in 2003-04) are self-contradictory; if the income-based explanation is accepted, the plea of ignorance or inadvertence becomes an afterthought and shows deliberate non-application while income was below Rs.1 crore, making that ground unacceptable and untenable.