Charitable purpose under income tax law requires public benefit; a private wakf for descendants remains taxable in the mutavalli's hands.

A wakf provision for the maintenance, education, marriage, funeral and other necessities of the wakif's needy male-line descendants was held not to be a charitable purpose under Section 4(3)(i) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922, because the exemption was confined to public charity and objects of general public utility; the provision was private in nature and therefore not exempt. Income set apart for that non-exempt purpose, though unspent for want of beneficiaries, remained assessable in the hands of the mutavalli because the relevant trust income did not lose its taxable character merely by remaining undistributed.

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Issues: (i) Whether a wakf provision for maintenance, education, marriage, funeral and other necessities of the poor and needy descendants of the wakif in the male line constitutes a charitable purpose within Section 4(3)(i) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922. (ii) Whether the income set apart for that purpose, remaining unspent for want of beneficiaries, is assessable in the hands of the mutavalli.

Issue (i): Whether a wakf provision for maintenance, education, marriage, funeral and other necessities of the poor and needy descendants of the wakif in the male line constitutes a charitable purpose within Section 4(3)(i) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922.

Analysis: The expression "charitable purposes" in Section 4(3)(i) was treated as requiring a public charity and not a private benefit. The exemption was held to extend only to property held wholly for religious or charitable purposes of general public utility. A provision limited to the donor's own descendants, even if confined to those in poor and needy circumstances, was held to be of a private nature and not an object of general public utility.

Conclusion: The provision for the donor's descendants is not a charitable purpose and does not fall within Section 4(3)(i).

Issue (ii): Whether the income set apart for that purpose, remaining unspent for want of beneficiaries, is assessable in the hands of the mutavalli.

Analysis: Income belonging to the non-exempt portion of a private trust was held not to be immune from taxation merely because no beneficiary had actually received it. Since the mutavalli held the income and the relevant portion was not exempt, the trustee was the proper person to be assessed on that income.

Conclusion: The unspent income is assessable in the hands of the mutavalli.

Final Conclusion: The questions referred were answered against the assessee, and the disputed portion of the wakf income was held taxable in the hands of the mutavalli.

Ratio Decidendi: For income-tax exemption, "charitable purposes" under Section 4(3)(i) mean public charitable purposes of general public utility, and a trust benefiting the donor's own needy descendants remains private and taxable in the trustee's hands.

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