JUDGMENT : BECHU KURIAN THOMAS, J. The question that arises for consideration is whether a charitable institution registered under section 12A of the INCOME TAX ACT , 1961 (for short ‘the Act’) was required to file a return of income for the purposes of claiming the benefit of exemption under sections 11 and 12 of the Act, prior to 2018. 2. Petitioner is a charitable trust rendering educational services and is an assessee under the Act. According to the petitioner, for the assessment years 2015-16 and 2016-17, its entire receipts were applied for charitable purposes and hence it was not necessary to file a return of income. Since petitioner had not filed the return for the aforementioned assessment years, the Income Tax Officer issued a notice under section 148 of the Act proposing to assess the petitioner under section 147 of the Act by alleging that there were reasons to believe that the net income over expenditure had escaped assessment. Petitioner further alleges that, since it had not received any notice, a response could not be filed and later, when a show cause notice was issued, a detailed reply was furnished and all documents were made available. Thereafter, despite accepting the Income and Expenditure Account and the Balance Sheet, the excess income over expenditure was assessed in the hands of the petitioner, treating it as an ‘association of persons’ for the sole reason of not having filed a return of income. 3. Petitioner pleads that the assessment order, without giving the benefit of the exemption under section 11 of the Act, for the sole reason of not filing a return of income, is erroneous. Challenging the assessment orders, a revision petition was preferred before the second respondent. During the pendency of the aforesaid revision petition, the third respondent imposed a penalty under section 272A(2)(e) of the Act for non-filing of returns, which was also challenged in a revision petition filed under section 264 of the Act. Subsequently, by orders dated 21.03.2024, the second respondent rejected the revision petitions filed by the petitioner against the assessment orders and by orders dated 30.03.2024 and 24.03.2024, the second respondent rejected the revision petitions filed by the petitioner against the penalty. The said orders are under challenge in this writ petition. Subsequently, by orders dated 21.03.2024, the second respondent rejected the revision petitions filed by the petitioner against the assessment orders and by orders dated 30.03.2024 and 24.03.2024, the second respondent rejected the revision petitions filed by the petitioner against the penalty. The said orders are under challenge in this writ petition. Petitioner has also sought for a declaration that, as a charitable institution, it is eligible for exemption under sections 11 and 12 of the Act, notwithstanding the non-filing of returns for the years 2015-16 and 2016-17. 4. A statement has been filed on behalf of the respondents pleading that, the registration under section 12A of the Act by itself, does not confer any right for exemption to the petitioner under sections 11 and 12 of the Act. It is averred that the exemption from taxation will arise only when the assessee complies with the conditions laid down in sections 11, 12, 12A and 13 of the Act, apart from other provisions of the statute. Respondents also pleaded that filing of return of income is a condition precedent for the applicability of sections 11 and 12 of the Act for the assessment years 2015- 16 and 2016-17 as per section 12A(1)(b) of the Act. It is further stated that, despite granting ample opportunities, petitioner had failed to furnish any justification for not filing the income tax returns, thereby rendering itself ineligible for grant of exemption under sections 11 and 12 of the Act. According to the respondents, petitioner falls in the category of a representative assessee as defined under section 160 of the Act and whatever income the trust receives or is entitled to receive, is on behalf of or for the benefit of the trustees. Reliance was placed on the decision in Chirakkal Service Cooperative Bank Ltd. (and connected appeals) v. Commissioner of Income tax [ (2016) 384 ITR 490 ]. 5. Sri. Joseph Markos, the learned Senior Counsel instructed by Sri. Abraham Joseph Markos, learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that since the total income for the previous years under consideration had not exceeded the maximum amount, which was not chargeable to income tax, petitioner had no legal obligation to furnish a return of income. 5. Sri. Joseph Markos, the learned Senior Counsel instructed by Sri. Abraham Joseph Markos, learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that since the total income for the previous years under consideration had not exceeded the maximum amount, which was not chargeable to income tax, petitioner had no legal obligation to furnish a return of income. Referring to various provisions of the statute it was submitted that no provision of the Act compels the petitioner to file its return of income until section 12A(1)(ba) was introduced into the statute with effect from 01-04-2018. According to the learned Senior Counsel, section 139(4A) of the Act applies only to a representative assessee and not to the trust as such and hence there is no requirement to file a return, as the entire income is exempt under law. It was further submitted that the term representative assessee in section 139(4A) has to be interpreted in the light of section 160 of the Act and therefore petitioner being a trust, is not obliged to file a return under the said provision. 6. Per contra, Sri. Jose Joseph, the learned Senior Standing Counsel for the Income Tax Department submitted that the contention raised by the petitioner is without any basis and that, in the absence of any return filed by the petitioner, it could not have claimed the benefit of exemption. The Standing Counsel further submitted that since the trust had income beyond the minimum taxable limit, it had to compulsively file its return through the trustees, failing which, the exemption cannot be claimed. 7. The question that arises for consideration is whether a charitable trust can claim the benefit of exemptions under sections 11 and 12 of the Act before 2018, without filing returns? 8. Section 139 of the Act deals with return of income. The provision states that every person, other than a company or a firm, who has a total income, during the previous year, in excess of the maximum amount which is not chargeable to income tax, shall furnish a return of income in the prescribed form. Section 11 exempts income derived from property held under a trust formed for charitable or religious purposes, from being included in the total income of the person in receipt of the income. Section 11 exempts income derived from property held under a trust formed for charitable or religious purposes, from being included in the total income of the person in receipt of the income. Section 12 exempts voluntary contributions received by a trust created wholly for charitable or religious purposes, unless the contribution formed the corpus of the trust. Section 12 A of the Act specifies the conditions for applicability of sections 11 and 12 of the Act. Section 12 A of the Act as was in force during the relevant year is extracted below: “ S.12A. (1) 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 registration of the trust or institution in the prescribed form and in the prescribed manner to the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner before the 1st day of July, 1973, or before the expiry of a period of one year from the date of the creation of the trust or the establishment of the institution, whichever is later and such trust or institution is registered under section 12AA: Provided ….. (omitted as not relevant)— (i) ….. (omitted as not relevant) (ii) ….. (omitted as not relevant) Provided further ….. (omitted as not relevant); (aa) ….. (omitted as not relevant) (ab) ….. (omitted as not relevant) (b) where the total income of the trust or institution as computed under this Act without giving effect to the provisions of section 11 and section 12 exceeds the maximum amount which is not chargeable to income-tax in any previous year, the accounts of the trust or institution for that year have been audited by an accountant as defined in the Explanation below sub-section (2) of section 288 and the person in receipt of the income furnishes along with the return of income for the relevant assessment year 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. (emphasis supplied). 9. (emphasis supplied). 9. A reading of the above provision clearly indicates that, if a trust wanted to claim the benefit of exemptions under sections 11 and 12 of the Act, and if the total income of the trust, without giving the benefit of such exemptions, exceeded the maximum amount that was not chargeable to income tax for a previous year, the person in receipt of the income was bound to furnish a return of income and also file an audit report. The focus under section 12A of the Act is not just on the audit report, and instead, it refers to a composite requirement - to furnish along with the return of income an audit report. Though there are judicial precedents that even if both were not filed simultaneously, the benefit of exemption can be claimed, still, those decisions do not obviate the need to file a return. Reference to the decision in Commissioner of Income Tax v. Sharzedanand Charity Trust [1997] 228 ITR 292 (P&H), is relevant. 10. When a trust claims that its income is exempt from tax under sections 11 and section 12 of the Act, it was obligatory under section 12A(b) of the Act as it then existed, to file a return since such a return was a condition of eligibility for claiming exemption during the years in question. Moreover, in the absence of a return, the assessee's claim for exemption will not be able to be decided. A decision on the eligibility for exemption can be made only after relevant materials are placed before the department by filing the return. Evaluation is necessary every year and for that purpose, the return is required to be filed by the assessee even if the assessee claims exemption of income tax. Thus, a religious or charitable trust was bound to file a return of its income during the assessment years 2015-16 and 2016-17, if it was desirous of claiming the benefit of exemption under sections 11 and 12 of the Act. 11. The contention of the learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner that the obligation to file a return under section 139(4A) of the Act will arise only when the representative assessee is assessed, though impressive at first blush, on a deeper analysis has to be held to be not legally tenable. 11. The contention of the learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner that the obligation to file a return under section 139(4A) of the Act will arise only when the representative assessee is assessed, though impressive at first blush, on a deeper analysis has to be held to be not legally tenable. The provision under section 139(4A) of the Act obligates both the trust and the representative trustee, whoever is the person in receipt of the income, to file a return. Section 139(4A) of the Act can only be interpreted to mean that as far as religious or charitable trusts are concerned, if the person in receipt of the income is the trust or the trustee, the obligation to file a return will exist. It cannot be confined to a representative trustee alone. 12. In the decision in The Director of Income Tax (Exemptions) v. Malad Jain Yuvak Mandal Medical Relief Centre [(2001) 250 ITR 488], a trust which claimed the benefit of exemption under section 10(22) of the Act as it then existed (1991) committed default in filing the return. The contention of the charitable trust was that it was not liable to file the return since its income did not exceed the maximum amount that was not chargeable to tax. The said contention was accepted by the statutory authorities including the Tribunal. However, the Bombay High Court held that under section 139(4A), every person in receipt of income derived from property held under trust for charitable or religious purposes, is required to furnish a return of income, if its total income, ignoring exemptions under sections 11 and section 12 of the Act, exceeds the maximum amount not chargeable to income tax. The following observations are relevant” “In other words, section 139(4A) deals with filing of returns by Charitable or Religious Trusts or Institution, whose income was exempt under Section 11 and Section 12 of the Act exceeds the maximum amount not chargeable to Income Tax................. Section 139(4A) enjoins upon every person who is in receipt of income derived from property held under trust for charitable or religious purposes, to file a return, if the total income in respect of which he is assessable exceeds the maximum amount which is not chargeable to Income Tax. The total income for this purpose is to be computed without giving effect to the provisions of Section 11 and Section 12 of the Act. The total income for this purpose is to be computed without giving effect to the provisions of Section 11 and Section 12 of the Act. Once the concept of total income which is required to be computed under the Act is kept in mind then, the assessee will have to file a return indicating the manner in which he has computed the total Income. Therefore, if an assessee who claims exemption under Section 11 and Section 12 is required to file the return, as stated above, then we do not see any reason as to why an assessee who claims exemption of income under section 10(22) should not file the return because ultimately the assessee's claim for exemption has to be decided by the Department only after the relevant materials is placed before it by filing the returns........................” 13. In view of the above discussion, it has to be held that, for the years 2015-16 and 2016-17, a charitable institution registered under section 12A of the Act was bound to file a return of income for the purpose of claiming exemption under sections 11 and 12 of the Act. Without such a return having been filed, petitioner cannot claim the benefit of the exemptions. Hence the impugned orders need no interference. The writ petition is dismissed.