Religious and charitable trust exemption upheld where public use and charitable objects, not family naming, controlled the endowment.

Two trusts were treated as wholly religious and charitable because their deeds and surrounding circumstances showed objects such as maintenance of buildings used for mourning and religious ceremonies, feeding the poor, and running a hospital, with access open to the public during relevant religious periods. The fact that the institutions bore family names did not make them private trusts, because the controlling test was the object and use of the endowment. The second trust was also recognised as a separate endowment for maintaining several religious buildings and applying any surplus to other religious and charitable purposes for the benefit of Muslims. Both trusts were therefore entitled to exemption from income-tax and wealth-tax.

---

---

Issues: Whether the two trusts were wholly for religious and charitable purposes and therefore entitled to exemption from income-tax and wealth-tax.

Analysis: The trust deeds and the surrounding circumstances showed that the objects were the maintenance and upkeep of buildings used for mourning, religious ceremonies, feeding the poor, and a hospital, and that the institutions were open to the public during the relevant religious periods. The naming of the institutions after members of the settlor's family did not convert them into private trusts, since the controlling inquiry was the object and use of the endowment. The second trust was also held to be a separate endowment for the maintenance of several religious buildings and, in the event of surplus, for other religious and charitable objects for the benefit of Muslims.

Conclusion: Both trusts were held to be trusts created wholly for religious and charitable purposes and thus entitled to exemption under the relevant income-tax and wealth-tax provisions.

---