IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS DATED : 06.01.2026 CORAM :

THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE C.SARAVANAN W.P.No . 24187 of 202 5 Sri Paspo Educational and Charitable Trust, Represented by its Managing Trustee, Mrs. B.Anuradha, W/o.Mr.K.Pandurangan, Aged 68 years, 30 Palaniappa Nagar, Hasthampatty, Salem – 636 007. ... Petitioner Vs.

1. The Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemptions), Aayakar Bhawan – Annexe Building, No.121, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Nungambakkam, Chennai – 600 034.

2. The Income Tax Officer, Exemptions Ward, Salem, No.3, Gandhi Road, Salem – 636 007.

3. The Central Processing Centre, 1st Floor, Prestige Alpha No.48/1 & 48/2, Beratenaagrahara Begur, Hosur Road, Uttarahalli Hobli, Bengaluru – 560 100.

... Respondents Prayer: Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, for issuance of a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus calling for the records in DIN & Order No:ITBA/COM/F/17/2024-25/1071560664(1)dated 25.12.2024 order under Section 119 (2) (b) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 on the file of the first respondent for the A.Y: 2023-2024 and quash the same and direct the first respondent to condone the delay in filing the Audit report in Form-10BB for the AY: 2023-24.

For Petitioner : Mr.I.Dinesh For Respondents : Mr.V.J.Arulraj Senior Standing Counsel

ORDER

In this Writ Petition, the Petitioner has challenged the Order dated

25.12.2024, whereby the application filed for condonation of delay in filing Form 10BB under Section 119(2)(b) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, as required under Section 12A(b)(ii) of the Act, has been rejected.

2. The facts on record reveal that for the Assessment Year 2023-2024, the petitioner filed the Return of Income within the due date, which had been extended to 30.11.2023. As per Rule 17B of the Income Tax Rules, 1962, the petitioner was required to file Form 10BB one month prior to the due date for filing the Return of Income under Section 139 (1) of the Act. In other words, the petitioner ought to have filed the Audit Report in Form 10BB on or before

30.09.2023.

3. In this background, the Return of Income filed by the petitioner on

30.11.2023 was taken up for processing and an intimation under Section 143(1) was issued to the petitioner on 29.10.2024. Consequently, the benefit of Section 11 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 was denied to the petitioner on the ground that Form 10BB had not been filed within the prescribed time, as mandated under Section 12(A)(1)(b) of the Act, and read with Rule 17B of the Income Tax Rules, 1962.

4. The impugned order rejected the application for condonation of delay of 30 days in filing the Audit Report in Form 10BB, with the following observations:-

“4.1 It is verified from the e-filing portal that the assessee has been habitual defaulter in filing return of income and form 10B which is tabulated as under:

Sl.No.	Asst.Year	Form 10B
1	2016-17	18.04.2023
2	2019-20	18.04.2023
3	2022-23	30.03.2023
4	2023-24	30.11.2023

The assessee filed condonation petition for the delay in filing Audit Report for the AYs 2016-17,2018-20, 2022-23 and 2023-24 with CIT(E), Chennai on 13.02.2024. Since the assesse filed the medical records of the Managing Trustee Ms.B. Anuradha for the period October-November 2022, a sympathetic view was taken and the delay in filing Form 108 of 174 days for the AY 2022-23 was condoned.

4.2 In the instant case, in connection with the condonation petition for the impugned Asst. Year 2023-24, it is seen that the assesse has filed the medical reports of the Managing Trustee Ms.B. Anuradha to the Assessing Officer for the treatment undergone in Sri Sai Hospitals during October November 2023. It is seen that the asseessee has been submitting the medical records of Ms.B. Anuradha for all the AYs for which there is delay in filing the audit report. If the managing trustee is not in a position to file the statutory obligations on time, then the other Trustees could have tried to file the form on time. But the assessee has not done so. From the efilin

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