ITAT Jodhpur: Original Section 12AA Application Cannot Be Converted to Section 12AB Registration — Jogniya Mata Shaktipith Vikas Sansthan Case

Overview of the Dispute

The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Jodhpur Bench, recently disposed of two interconnected appeals filed by Shri Jogniya Mata Shaktipith Prabandh Avm Vikas Sansthan, addressing a legally significant question concerning charitable trust registration under the Income-tax Act, 1961. The core issue revolved around whether a registration application originally filed under Section 12AA in Form No. 10A could be converted — even by a consequential order — into a registration under Section 12AB on Form No. 10AB.

The Tribunal's ruling, pronounced on 14/08/2026, carries relevance for all charitable and religious trusts that filed their registration applications under the earlier Section 12AA regime and are navigating the transition to the new registration framework introduced by Section 12AB.

Background and Factual Matrix

The Original Registration Application

Shri Jogniya Mata Shaktipith Prabandh Avm Vikas Sansthan had submitted an application in Form No. 10A on 25.09.2020, seeking registration under Section 12AA of the Income-tax Act, 1961 — the regime that was then in force. The learned Commissioner of Income-tax (Exemption), Jaipur ["Ld. CIT(E)"] rejected this application on 17.06.2021.

Aggrieved by the rejection, the assessee carried the matter before the Tribunal. In ITA No. 38/Jodh/2022, the Tribunal, by its order dated 03.11.2022, set aside the rejection and remitted the matter back to the Ld. CIT(E) for fresh consideration on merits, with a direction to provide the assessee with an adequate opportunity of being heard.

What Went Wrong on Remand

Upon reconsideration, while the Ld. CIT(E) accepted that the assessee was indeed eligible for registration, the consequential order dated 27.02.2026 proceeded on an erroneous factual premise — that the assessee had filed an application in Form No. 10AB under Section 12AB. On this mistaken basis, registration was granted under Section 12AB for the period 25.09.2020 to 31.03.2021, which was both legally and factually incorrect.

This consequential order became the subject matter of ITA No. 1059/Jodh/2026 before the Tribunal.

ITA No. 1059/Jodh/2026 — The Registration Appeal

Assessee's Submission

Before the Tribunal, counsel for the assessee pointed out that the Ld. CIT(E)'s order rested on a factual error. The assessee had never filed Form No. 10AB, nor had it made any application under Section 12AB in the original proceedings. The application submitted on 25.09.2020 was in Form No. 10A, made under the then-operative provisions of Section 12AA. That is the application which was rejected, that rejection was the subject of appeal before the Tribunal, and it is those proceedings which were restored to the Ld. CIT(E) for fresh decision.

Accordingly, the argument was that the Ld. CIT(E) was bound to act within the scope of the original proceedings. It could not re-characterize the application as one filed under Section 12AB merely because its consequential order was being passed at a later date — after the legislative introduction of the new registration regime under Section 12AB.