The Assessee applied registration under section 12A in the year 1991 (which had not been disposed yet) again moved before the Commissioner, second application for granting the registration in the year 2012. For the concerned Assessment Year, it claimed exemption under section 11 under the premise that deemed registration could be assumed in the event of non-disposal of application by the statutory authority within the statutorily prescribed limit.   The Assessing officer denied the  exemption under the premise that the trust was not registered under section 12AA and assessed the assessee as an association of persons attracting maximum marginal rates. Meanwhile the Commissioner acting upon the second application of the Assessee, vide its order, granted registration to the assessee up to a certain cut-off year in retrospective, however not applicable to the year in question.  The  assessee   contended that  insertion of 2^nd proviso to section 12AA of the Act vide Finance (No. 2) Act, 2014   was applicable retrospectively, which was not accepted by the revenue authorities who otherwise considered its applicability to be prospective. The Hon’ble Tribunal observed that the insertion of first proviso to sub-section (2) of section 12A has been explained by Explanatory Notes to provisions of Finance (No. 2) Act, 2014 and it is provided that the same is applicable to earlier assessment years which are pending before the Assessing Officer as on date of such registration. And further concurred with the judgement in SNDP Yogam v. ADIT (E) [2016] 161 ITD 1(Cochin)(Trib) where the registration granted to the assessee under section 12AA was held to be retrospective and not prospective and its claim for exemption under section 11 was allowed. (AY 2011-12)   (AY 2009-10, 2010-11)