1. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. Respondents waive
service. By consent of the parties, the Writ Petition is taken up for final
disposal at this stage itself.
2. The Petitioners before us represent a cross-section of
charitable trusts and bodies representing the tax-practising community.
Petitioner No. 1, i.e., The Chamber of Tax Consultants, is a society
established in 1926. It is one of the oldest voluntary non-profit
organisations of tax practitioners, and its members are advocates,
chartered accountants and tax practitioners. It is formed with the object
of spreading education in tax laws and making representations to
authorities on issues of public interest. Petitioner No. 2, i.e., the
Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society, was established in 1949, and is
a voluntary organisation of Chartered Accountants with over 11,500
members. It is actively involved in the dissemination of knowledge and
regularly makes representations on public interest issues concerning
tax laws. Petitioner Nos. 3 to 8 are public charitable trusts registered
under the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950 (“MPT Act”). These
trusts have been enjoying registration under sections 12A and 12AB of
MARCH 09, 2026
S.R.JOSHI
1-wpl-7587-2026.doc
the Income-tax Act, 1961 (“the Act”) for several years and are the
aggrieved parties whose applications for renewal of registration are
rejected by Respondent No. 1.