Charitable trust status upheld where marriage assistance for girls served a public section and retained religious charitable character.

A trust providing financial assistance for the marriages of girls from a specified community was treated as charitable for income-tax purposes because the benefit extended to a section of the public and was not limited to identified individuals. The court regarded marriage assistance, in the context of Hindu social and religious obligations, as part of religious charitable activity, and held that the charitable character was not lost merely because the beneficiaries belonged to a particular community. The trust was therefore correctly treated as a charitable trust for the assessment years concerned.

---

---

Issues: Whether a trust whose object included spending money on the marriages of girls belonging to a specified community could be regarded as a charitable trust for income-tax purposes.

Analysis: The object of providing financial assistance for the marriages of girls was treated as charitable where the benefit extended to a section of the public and was not confined to specified individuals. The view was that marriage assistance, in the context of Hindu social and religious obligations, formed part of religious charitable activity and did not lose its charitable character merely because the beneficiaries belonged to a particular community.

Conclusion: The object was charitable and the trust was correctly treated as a charitable trust for the assessment years in question.

---