Trust deed absence does not bar section 11 exemption if dedication and actual charitable use are otherwise established.

Exemption under section 11 is not automatically denied merely because a trust deed is absent if the dedication of property and its religious or charitable character are otherwise established from surrounding facts, including exclusion from partition and long actual use for religious purposes. The revenue must examine those materials before rejecting relief. However, exemption still depends on verification that the income from property held under trust is actually applied to religious or charitable objects, so the factual use of the income remains decisive before final relief can be granted.

---

---

Issues: Whether exemption under section 11 could be denied merely for want of a formal trust deed, and whether the income from the property was required to be examined for actual application to religious or charitable purposes.

Analysis: The entitlement to exemption depended on the intention behind the dedication of the property and not merely on the existence of an express deed. Where the trust is not formally documented, the surrounding circumstances, the stated exclusion of the property from partition, and the long actual use of the property for religious purposes were relevant factors. The revenue authorities had not properly examined these materials. At the same time, under section 11 only such income from property held under trust is exempt as is applied to religious or charitable purposes, so the actual utilization of the income still required verification.

Conclusion: Denial of exemption solely for absence of a formal trust deed was not justified, but the matter had to be sent back for examination of actual application of the income before relief could be granted.

Ratio Decidendi: For exemption of income from property claimed to be held under trust, the existence of a formal deed is not ative if the dedication and charitable or religious use are otherwise established, but exemption ultimately depends on the actual application of the income to the permitted objects.

---