2018 (1) TMI 807
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....Ishwar Lal Jain, r/o 550/7, Shanti Vihar, Flat No. 2, Udai Marg, Raja Park, Jaipur do hereby solemnly affirm on oath and state as under: 1. That I am the secretary & Authorised Signatory of the Appellant Society in the present Income tax Appeal which stands registered as DBITA 219/2017 and therefore well conversant with the facts and circumstances of the present case and competent to swear this affidavit. 2. That it is submitted that during the course of admission of the present Income-tax Appeal the Hon'ble Court was of the opinion that clause No. 5 [PB 35] in the objects of the Appellant Society which reads as under runs contrary to charitable objects of a society: 3. That the counsel of the appellant society Shri Siddharth Ranka, Advocate, also immediately apprised me of the situation and requested that a meeting of the society be called and decision be taken with reference to clause No. 5 in the objects of the Appellant Society which even the ld. Commissioner of Income-tax and ld. Income tax Appellate Tribunal did not find favour with and which is leading to wrong impression about the objects of the appellant society. 4. That I had accordingly called for meeting....
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....n that view of the matter, we are of the opinion that in view of the judgments which have sought to be relied upon by the counsel for the appellant: 1. CIT vs. Dawoodi Bohara Jamat, [2014] 364 ITR 31 (SC),wherein it has been observed as under:- "28. The objects of the Respondent-trust are not indicative of a wholly religious purpose but are collectively indicative of both charitable and religious purposes. It is expedient to comprehend the objects of the Respondent-trust with reference to the construction of the expressions "charitable purpose" and "religious purpose." 29. The phrase charitable purpose is expansive and inclusive. The expression "charitable purpose" is defined in the dictionary clause of the Act under Section 2(15) as follows: "charitable purpose" includes relief of the poor, education, medical relief, preservation of environment (including watersheds, forests and wildlife) and preservation of monuments or places or objects of artistic or historic interest, and the advancement of any other object of general public utility: Provided that the advancement of any other object of general public utility shall not be a charitable purpose, if it involves the carry....
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....shed that such charitable purpose is not for the benefit of a particular religious community or caste. That is to say, it needs to be examined whether such religious-charitable activity carried on by the trust only benefits a certain particular religious community or class or serves across the communities and for society at large. (Sole Trustee, Loka Shikshana Trust v. C.I.T.(1975) 101 ITR 234 (SC)). The section of community sought to be benefited must be either sufficiently defined or identifiable by a common quality of a public or impersonal nature." 2. CIT vs. Bayath Kutchhi Dasha Oswal Jain Mahajan Trust, (2016) 74 Taxman.com 199 (Gujarat), ,wherein it has been observed as under:- "8. Thus, very premise for the Commissioner to come to the conclusion that the objects of the trust were confined for the benefit of a religious community, is incorrect. Thereafter to suggest that the activities were carried out only for such purposes would be entering in the realm of granting exemptions in terms of Section 13 of the Act, which would be the task of the Assessing Officer to be undertaken at the time of assessment on the basis of material that may be brought on record." 3. CIT vs.....
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....ere in accordance with law. AO had not inquired into the nature of the receipts, before issuing notice under Section 148, and in the earlier years also, the receipt of donation was held to be received in the corpus fund. Therefore, Tribunal was justified in setting aside the assessment. It has been found by the Tribunal that one of the conditions necessary for issuance of notice under Section 148, being under statement of income of the assessee, is not fulfilled. It has been held, that in order to bring an item within the purview of Section 147, it is, of utmost importance, 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 receiv....
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....omplete agreement with the view taken by the Tribunal. Though Mr. Jain has tried to justify the order of the Assessing Officer and CIT(A), but in our view, in view of the binding decision of the Supreme Court in the case of CIT Vs. Dawoodi Bohara (2014) 43 Taxmann.com 242, the Tribunal has not committed any error in allowing the appeal of the assessee." 8. CIT v. Bhagwan Mahaveer Pursharth Prerna Nidhi Nyas (DBITA 163/2012) dated 11.09.2017 - Rajasthan High Court, wherein it has been observed as under:- "2. This Court while admitting the matter framed the following substantial question of law:- "Whether in the facts and circumstances of the case the ITAT was justified in law in directing to grant registration to the respondent assessee u/s 12AA despite of the facts that there was violation of section 13(1)(b) of the Act.?" 7. Taking into consideration the above factual position and the law, the issue is required to be answered in favour of the assessee against the department." 9. CIT v. Indin Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (2007) 86 Taxmann.com 44 (Delhi),wherein it has been observed as under:- "16. The CIT (A) had proceeded on the basis that a....
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....ng, accounting, direct and indirect taxes by holding seminars, conferences and workshops, etc. The fruits of such seminars, conferences, etc., would be available to the public at large, thus, it appears that the society is not for the benefit of a small group of individuals and it is also not only for the benefit of members but to promote awareness and education of the commercial and tax laws for the general public without any profit motive. As observed by the Supreme Court, to serve a charitable purpose it is not necessary that the object should be to benefit the whole of mankind or all persons in a country or State, even if a section of the public is given benefit, it cannot be said that it is not a trust for charitable purpose in the interest of the public. In the situation of explosion in population, the vast changes brought by the scientific technology and other developments, more particularly, the universal concept of glo-balisation, new trends in the world order to meet the ever growing challenges to organising seminars, conferences and workshops to educate the people of commercial laws, tax laws, auditing, accounting, direct and indirect taxes are of great general public ut....
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.... the basis of the material which was produced by the assessee on the record of the Commissioner and before the Tribunal, we are of the view that no substantial question of law would arise in this appeal so as to warrant the interference of this court. However, while dismissing the appeal, we clarify that this would not affect the liberty which has been granted to the society to file a fresh application for registration." 7. On the second issue regarding object for a particular community, counsel for the appellant has relied on the following decisions: 1. C.P. Vidya Niketan Inter College Shikshan Society v. Union of India, [2013] 40 taxmann.com 76 (Allahabad), wherein it has been observed as under:- "24. In the facts and circumstances, we are of the opinion that as of now the petitioner society running educational institution by the name of C.P. Vidya Niketan Inter College at Kaimganj, Distt. Farrukhabad imparts education to students from Class VI to XII, in the absence of any allegation or material, the object clause providing for other charitable activities, would not disentitle the society from approval under Section 10(23C)(vi) of exemption. The proviso added to Section 10(....
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....o Section 10(23C) of the Act to satisfy himself of the conditions of grant of approval. A fresh notice will be given to the petitioner to submit the requisite documents on which a fresh order will be passed by the Chief Commissioner, Income Tax, Ghaziabad." 2. Sri Venkateshwar Educational Society (Regd.) v. Director General of Income Tax (exemptions), [2011] 9 taxmann.com 196 (Delhi), wherein it has been observed as under:- 9. Insofar as apprehension of the respondent that in view of other objectives mentioned in the Memorandum of Association, the petitioner may undertake those activities and channelize the funds generated from the aforesaid school to those activities, it is significant to point out that petitioner had filed affidavit with the respondent specifically undertaking as under: "It is customary and general practice to make the objects broad and wide at the time of drafting of objects of the society. The inclusion of the above objects is as a result of the same. However, it is pertinent to note that the society was never engaged in the past in any of the activity stated in the above objectives. The audited accounts are available on record to verify this fact. We f....


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