TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2019 (11) TMI 1305
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....ion 260A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred as 'the Act') assails the order dated 08.03.2019 passed by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (hereinafter referred as 'ITAT') New Delhi, in ITA No. 6564/Del./2015 for Assessment Year (AY) 2011-12 (hereinafter referred as 'Impugned Order'). By way of the Impugned Order, ITAT has dismissed the appeal of the revenue, and confirmed the order of CIT (A) overturning the Assessing Officer's (AO) reasoning and findings to the effect that the assessee trust is carrying out 'religious activities', not enshrined in the objects of the trust. As a result, the disallowances and additions made by the AO and deletion made by the CIT (A), have been sustained. 3. Briefly stated, the factual matrix....
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....the exemption under Section 11 and 12 of the Act. 6. Besides, the AO held that the assessee had received donation of Rs. 11,01,15,431/- out of which identity of donors in respect of donation of Rs. 94,66,053/- could not be proved and the same was treated as unexplained/anonymous donation in terms of section 115BBC of the Act. Further, since the assessee could not furnish the necessary details of Rs. 50 lacs, incurred as expenditure for arrangement of samagams, it was treated as unexplained/anonymous donation. Since, the anonymous donation of Rs. 1,47,69,053/- exceeded 5% of the total donation of Rs. 11,01,15,431/- received during the year, the excess donation of Rs. 92,63,281/- was taxed under Section 115BBC of the Act. The assessee was ....
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....e has assailed the aforesaid order of the ITAT in the present appeal. Mr. Ajit Sharma, learned senior standing counsel for the appellant, submits that the ITAT has largely relied upon its previous order in Assesee's own case for AY 2009-10 and the decision of this Court in ITA 269/2015 dated 07.09.2015 for AY 2009-10, without adverting to the merits of the present case. He further submitted that assessee's entire activities have been found to be largely for religious purposes and it is therefore not entitled to the benefits under Section 11(1) of the Act; as purely religious activities are beyond the objects mentioned in the Trust Deed. Mr. Sharma further submitted that the activities relating to T.V. telecast, benefited Gurudevji who comes....
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....aged in charitable activities which are very much part of religious activities and such activities alongwith organising spiritual lectures has been held to be religious and this they have examined in the context of objects of the assessee trust. By such reasoning, the order of the Tribunal was affirmed. We do not find that the rationale and the principle laid down by the Hon'ble High Court in the earlier year, in any manner gets diluted in this year by the reasoning given by the AO and in fact the issue is squarely covered by this binding precedence. 12. Otherwise also, we find it very difficult to fathom the reasoning of the AO that, simply because the asseessee's activities have been held to be religious by the AO then same is et....
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....gh Court, such discourses falls in the broad concepts of Hindu religious activities which is well within the permissible objects of the assessee trust which is giving spiritual lectures to the needy persons. Thus, the reasoning and the findings of the AO that it is purely carrying out religious activities not enshrined in the object of the trust cannot be sustained. 13. Coming to the other disallowances made by the Ld. AO, we do not find any substance in the reasoning given by the AO, which in fact is sans any material or evidence but based on wild conjectures. For instances, in so far disallowance of 1/3rd expenditure on telecast of samagam on TV, he has held that, there might be some kind of benefit to Gurudevji, who is one of th....
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....oning is rejected. Accordingly, the findings of the Ld. CIT (A) are affirmed. Consequently, we uphold the direction of the Ld. CIT (A) to allow exemption/benefit u/s 11(1). 15. In the result appeal of the revenue is dismissed." (emphasis supplied) 12. The tax authorities have relied upon the order of this Court in ITA 269/2015 (Supra) for AY 2009-10, to set aside the findings of the AO denying the assessee exemption under Section 11 of the Act. As regards the findings pertaining to withdrawal of exemption under Section 11 of the Act is concerned, it has been observed that the reasons assigned by the AO were based on presumption, and the basis of invoking Section 13(1)(c)(ii) was completely misplaced and contrary to the scheme....