TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2015 (12) TMI 694
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....d allowing the relief to the assessee by holding that the activities of the assessee are charitable in nature within the meaning of section 2(15) of the Act. 3. In the facts and circumstances of the case and in law the Ld. CIT (A) erred in holding that the activity carried out by the assessee falls under the limb 'education as the assessee's case is squarely covered by the decision given in the case of Addl. CIT vs. Association of Southern India (1981) 127 ITR 730 (Mad.) where it has been held that the imparting lessons and instructions for automobile driving cannot be an educational object but can only be considered as general public utility. " 2. The assessee society is registered u/s 12AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961 vide order dated 28.07.2006. Return for the assessment year under consideration was earlier processed u/s 143(1) of the Act at NIL income and the case was later selected for scrutiny. During the assessment proceedings u/s 143(3), the AO while denying the assessee's claim of exemption u/s 11 observed on pages 6 & 7 of the Assessment Order as under: "In the instant case, during the period under consideration the Society was involved to impart training to drivers....
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.... and enforcing those standards through accreditation and continuing supervision through inspection, etc. cannot be considered as trade, business or commercial, merely because testing procedure involves charging of fees. The ratio of the above mentioned judgment is clearly attracted on the facts of the case, because the appellant is charging the fee for training the Drivers of different categories. So, it does not involve trade, commerce or business as assessee is in receipt of fee from rendering services for training the drivers of Buses and Trucks and it falls under the last limb of the Sec. 2(15) which is advancement of any other object of general public utility. In this regard while deciding the issue, the reliance is placed on the C.B.D.T. Circular No. 1112008 dated 19-11-2008, wherein, in the relevant paragraph it has been mentioned under:- "3.2 In the final analysis" however, whether the assessee has for its object 'the advancement of any other object of general public utility' is a question of fact. If such assessee is engaged in any activity in the nature of trade, commerce or business or renders any service in relation to trade commerce or business, it would not....
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....tment has challenged the finding of the Ld. CIT (A). The Ld. DR drew our attention to pages 2 & 3 of the assessment order and pointed out that for the period under consideration the gross receipts of the assessee amounted to Rs. 1,17,07,050/- and the surplus generated for the last three assessment years was as under :- AY Surplus 2010 - 11 Rs. 50,82,846/- 2009 - 10 Rs. 45,92,661/- 2008 - 09 Rs. 43,29,681/- The Ld. DR emphasised that these figure prove that the assessee was generating huge profits / surplus every year and hence it cannot be said that there is no profit motive. The Ld. DR further emphasised that after the amendment to the proviso to Section 2(15) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 w.e.f. 01.04.2009, the profit motive was no more important. The Ld. DR further submitted that charitable trusts with general object of public utility are required to eschew any activity which is in the nature of trade, commerce or business or the rendering of any service in relation to any trade, commerce or business to remain charitable to continue registration u/s 12A of the Income Tax Act, 1961. He submitted that the end use of business profit for charitable purposes is of no relevance....
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....(15) of the Act which defines 'charitable purposes' is intended to mean. We are certain that these observations were not intended to keep out of the meaning of the word 'education', persons other than 'young'. The expression 'schooling' also means 'that schools, instructs or educates' (The Oxford English Dictionary, Vol. IX, page 217). The Supreme Court has observed that the word 'education' also connotes the whole course of scholastic instruction which a person has received. This clearly indicates that the observations of the Supreme Court were not intended to give a narrow or pedantic sense to the word 'education'. By giving further illustrations of a traveller gaining knowledge, victims of swindlers and thieves becoming wiser, the visitors to night clubs adding to their knowledge of the hidden mysteries of life, the Supreme Court has indicated that the word 'education' is not used in a loose sense so as to include acquisition of even such knowledge. The observations of the Supreme Court only indicate the proper confines of the word 'education' in the context of the provisions of section 2(15) of the Act. ....
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....e case of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and Another v. DIT (Exemptions) and Others (2013) 358 ITR 91 has held that the Institute was entitled to income-tax exemption. It was held by the Hon'ble Delhi High Court that after going through the provisions of the Chartered Accountants Act and the Regulations framed therein as well as various activities carried on by the Institute, it was clear that the Institute did not carry on any business, trade or commerce. The activity of imparting education in the field of accountancy and conducting courses both at pre-qualification as well as post-qualification level were activities in furtherance of the object for which the Institute had been established. 8. It is seen that the assessee society was formed by Ashok Leyland Ltd., an Automobile conglomerate, on the request of Govt. Of NCT of Delhi to impart training to drivers of buses & trucks including DTC buses to make Delhi roads safe. The various training courses are designed and prescribed by Government of India, Ministry of Shipping, Road-Transport & Highways. The course content comprises of classroom instruction, training on simulator models, field instructions, practical trai....