Inclusive definition of charitable purpose under building tax exemption left for larger Bench reconsideration.

The exemption under the Kerala Building Tax Act, 1975 excludes buildings used principally for religious, charitable or educational purposes, and its Explanation states that "charitable purpose" includes relief of the poor and free medical relief. The Court treated that definition as inclusive, not exhaustive, so the Explanation was not confined to those specific instances alone. It also noted that an earlier view appeared to read "includes" as "means", which could have narrowed the statutory scope. Because of that apparent interpretive error, the correctness of the earlier view was left for reconsideration by a larger Bench, and no final determination was made on the exemption claim.

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Issues: Whether the expression "charitable purpose" in the exemption provision of the Kerala Building Tax Act, 1975 is confined to relief of the poor and free medical relief, and whether the earlier view on the point required reconsideration by a larger Bench.

Analysis: The exemption provision under the Act excludes from building tax buildings used principally for religious, charitable or educational purposes, and its Explanation states that "charitable purpose" includes relief of the poor and free medical relief. The Court held that the expression is inclusive and not exhaustive, so the Explanation does not confine charity only to free medical relief. It observed that the earlier decision had treated the word "includes" as if it meant "means", which may have narrowed the scope of the provision. In view of this apparent error in the earlier interpretation, the Court held that the correctness of that view needed examination by a larger Bench.

Conclusion: The issue was not finally decided on merits and was referred for consideration by a larger Bench.

Final Conclusion: The appeal did not result in a substantive determination of the exemption claim, and the interpretive question under the Act was left for authoritative reconsideration by a larger Bench.

Ratio Decidendi: An inclusive statutory definition of "charitable purpose" cannot be restricted to the specific instances mentioned in the Explanation, and a prior contrary view may warrant reconsideration by a larger Bench.

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