TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2008 (8) TMI 885
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....ing aside the assessment order, ignoring the provisions of section 147 of the IT Act, 1961 the AO validly issued notice under section 148 of the Act ? (2) Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the learned Tribunal is justified in allowing the exemption under section 11(i)( d) of the IT Act, 1961, ignoring the fact that the objects of the trust providing benefit to Maheshwari community was hit by the provisions contained in clause (i) of section 13 in view of the decision in Ghulam Mohidin Trust vs. CIT [2001] 168 CTR (J&K) 367 : [2001] 248 ITR 587 (J&K), which is squarely applicable in this case ?". 3.The necessary facts are, that the assessee is a charitable trust, which came into existence on 17th Oct., 1995, ....
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....lity of the exemption, with respect to fund received by the assessee, before grant of registration under section 12AA i.e. 14th Aug., 1997. On both the aspects, the learned Tribunal decided in favour of the assessee, and allowed the appeal. 5. Taking the second aspect first, which (is) comprehended by question No. 2, the controversy centers round the applicability of the provisions under ss. 11, 13 and section 12AA. Admittedly, the registration under section 12AA was granted w.e.f. 14th Aug., 1997, and a sum of Rs. 12,11,100 was received prior to this 14th Aug., 1997. The learned Tribunal found, that according to section 12A, the provisions of ss. 11 and 12 did not apply, in relation to any trust or institution, unless conditions prescribe....
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....ed, being 1st April, 1997, and therefore, the amount was found to be exempt. 6. The questions framed by this Court contemplate non-applicability of exemption, in view of the provisions contained in section 13(1)(a) and (b), which excludes the applicability of section 11(1)(d) in the eventualities enumerated in section 11(1)(a) and (b). Before proceeding further, we may gainfully quote and reproduce provisions of section 13(1)(a) and (b), which read as under : "13. Sec. 11 not to apply in certain cases.-(1) Nothing contained in section 11 or section 12 shall operate so as to exclude from the total income of the previous year of the person in receipt thereof- (a) any part of the income from the property held under a trust for private....
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.... established for the benefit of any particular religion, community, or caste. At best, clause 13 shows to be providing for some preference, in favour of the persons belonging to a particular community. So far clause 6 is concerned, that does not talk anything about as to for whose benefit the trust has been created. 9. However, instead to stand on ceremonies, we requested the learned counsel for the assessee, to make available the copy of the trust deed, if available with him, and the same was made available to us, and perusal thereof shows a detailed list of objects of the trust, and all those objects in categorical terms state, about the beneficiaries being the society at large, and does not confine to any particular caste, community, or....
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.... that the AO should have reason to believe, based on relevant and cogent material, that such income has escaped assessment. It has been found, that there was no material direct or indirect, available with the AO, which could show that the receipt of donations, amounting to Rs. 30,16,598, was without any specific direction of corpus fund. The assessee has shown the receipts, as having been received in the corpus fund, coupled with the report of the auditor. The AO had not inquired into the nature of the receipts, before issuing notice under section 148, and in earlier years also, the amount was held to be received in the corpus fund. 12. In our view, the learned Tribunal has rightly examined the controversy. It is significant to note that t....