TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2021 (5) TMI 865
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....tion of the assessee on the ground that the main object of the assessee trust is to establish, construct, maintain and run a Gurudwara at Puri and Nayagarh providing for regular daily seva puja according to the Sikh religious custom, tradition, therefore, the activities of the trust is religious and violating the provisions of section 80G(5)((iii) of the Act. 4. Before us, ld counsel for the assessee submitted that the assessee trust being a religious charitable public trust, a place for worship and public welfare and it fulfils all the conditions for grant/approval of exemption u/s.80G(5)(vi) of the Act. Ld counsel submitted that the activities of the trust includes free distribution of food packers & drinking water by the trust every year on the occasion of Sri Jagannath Rath Yatra at Puri, distribution of free meals three times a day to the hundred of pilgrims visiting Puri, maintaining a children park in 2 acres of land for play and take joy riders every day free of cost, and many others. He submitted that the ld CIT(E) rejected the application on the main ground that the trust is for religious purposes without considering the main activities of the trust, which are charitable....
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....for approval u/s.80G(5)(vi) of the Act having regard to the provisions of sub-rule (2) to Rule 11AA of Income tax Rules, 1962. 3. In view of the above facts, the Trust cannot be granted approval u/s.80G(5)(vi) of the Act. Hence, the said application in Form 10G filed by the applicant is hereby reject." 9. From the above noted observations and findings of ld CIT(E), we note that the only allegation and basis taken by him for denying approval and registration u/s 80G of the Act is that the Trust's activities includes religious activities and violating the provisions of section 80G(5)(vi) of the Act. Clause (iii) of sub-section (5) of Section 80G provides that "the institution or fund is not expressed to be for the benefit of any particular religious community or caste". 10. We observe that for the purpose of grant of approval u/s 80G, what is to be seen by the Commissioner is that the institution or fund seeking approval is established for charitable purpose and is genuinely carrying out the activities of the institution or funds and further that it fulfills all the conditions laid down in clauses (i) to (v) of section 80G(5) of the Act. The conditions specified in the section 80....
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....ing the common belief in worshiping of superhuman controlling power or having common system & faith and worship. If the trust is for the benefit of any particular religious community, it would include the advancement, support or propagation of a religion and its tenants, it could be said that a trust has violated the condition No. (iii) of section 80G(5). The objects as has been pointed out by CIT, nowhere talks of advancement, support or propagation of a particular religion, worshipping of Lord shiva, hanumanji , goddess Durga and maintaining of temple, in our opinion, cannot be regarded for the advancement support or propagation of a particular religion. No evidence or material was placed on record or brought before us by the learned DR which may prove that these object relate to a particular religion. No doubt the DR argued that it relate to Hindu Religion but in our opinion it is not so. Lord shiva, Hanumanji, goddess Durga does not represent any particular religion, they are merely regarded to be the super power of the universe. 11. In the case of Commissioner of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Madras vs. Sri Lakshmindra Thirtha Swamiar 1954 SCJ335, Religion has be....
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....stantially wholly of a religious nature, the Institution or Funds falls outside the scope of section 80G and the donation to it will not make the donor entitled for the deduction u/s. 80G. The objects as per Explanation must be wholly or substantially whole of which must be of religious nature. The assessee has submitted all the evidence including the objects and how the expenditure has been incurred by it. The onus, in our opinion, gets shifted on the Revenue to prove that the assessee-trust is wholly or substantially for the religious purpose. There is no allegation on the part of the revenue that the whole or substantially whole of the object of the trust is to propagate or advance support to a particular sect. We may observe that Hinduism is a way of life of a civilized society. It as such is not a religion. In this regard we rely on the case of T T Kuppuswamy Chettiar Vs. State of Tamil Nadu (1987) 100 LW 1031 in which it was held " The word "Hindu" has not been defined in any of the texts nor in judgment made law. The word was given by British administrators to inhabitants of India, who were not Christians, Muslims, Parsis or Jews. The alleged Hindu religion consists of four ....
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....a Saraswati Hospital vs CIT (Exemptions) in ITA No.173/Agr/2017, the Co-ordinate Bench of the Tribunal held as follows: "7. Heard. In 'Hiralal Bhagwati' (Supra), rightly relied on by the assessee, it has been held that once registration 12A of the Act stands granted, the application u/s 80G(5) cannot be rejected. The Agra Bench of the ITAT has followed this legal position vide order dated 08.03.2018, passed in 'Dr. Gyanendra Goel Foundation, Maa Saraswati Hospital Vs. CIT(Exemptions)', , (authored by one of us, the Vice President). Therein, it has been held as under: "5. We have heard the parties and perused the material on record. At the outset, it is seen that registration u/s 12AA(1)(b)(i) of the I.T. Act was granted to the appellant Institution vide order dated 05.04.2016 (APB, 16-18). It is not disputed that this registration has hitherto not been revoked or cancelled. The ld. CIT(E) has observed, interalia, that approval u/s 80G(5) of the Act is not a mechanical process, wherein the according of registration u/s 12AA of the Act at one end would result in the issuance of approval u/s 80G(5) at the other. Consistent judicial opinion in this regard, however, is otherwise. ....
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....ects of the trust; that so far as the aspect of income is concerned, the same can be very well examined by the Assessing Officer at the time of framing assessment; and that the Authority examining the question whether a trust/Institution is eligible to be certified for the purposes of Section 80G is not to act as an AO. 9. "N.N. Desai", (Supra) was followed by the Pune ITAT in "B.P.H.E. Society vs. ITO", in ITA No. 111/PN/2010, vide order dated 30.08.2011, holding that when the CIT is to examine an application seeking recognition u/s 80G, he is not required to act as an AO and decide upon the claim of the assessee in respect of his assessment of income; that the actual assessment of the assessee and its actual liability to tax are matters to be decided only in the assessment proceedings; and that since the assessee was (in that case, as herein also) registered u/s 12A of the Act and such registration continued, the assessee fulfilled the conditions prescribed u/s 80G(5)(i) of the Act. 10. "N.N. Desai" (Supra) has also been followed in "Marathi Vidyan Parishad Nashik Vibhag vs. CIT, Nashik", (APB, 95-102), by the Pune Tribunal, vide order dated 20.05.2016, in ITA No. 1465/PN/201....
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.... specifically drew our attention to para 13 of the order which stated that to serve as a charitable purpose it is not necessary that the objects must be to serve the whole of mankind or all persons living in country. 8. Thereafter the Ld.Counsel for the assessee stated that it was incorrect that the assessee had been spending only a fraction of its total receipts on charitable activities. The Ld. counsel for assessee drew our attention to the financial statement of the assessee society for the years endings 31.3.2012, 31.3.2013, 31.3.2014 and 31.3.2015 placed at page Nos.81 to 113 and pointed out that it had been spending consistently on its stated objects and deploying the revenue generated in accumulating assets for the purpose of its charitable objects. The Ld. counsel for assessee pointed out that the assessee was not keeping its surplus unutilized in cash or FDRs. The Ld. counsel for assessee further pointed out that the contention of the Ld.CIT(E) that major portion was being spent on salary does not go against the assessee since salaries were being paid to the staff who were involved in running the charitable trust and the medical facilities being provided by it which was ....
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....e object of celebration of Agarsain Jayanti ,it definitely does not have a religious contour and the Ld.Counsel for the assessee has emphasized that the celebrations involve the public at large therefore we fail to understand as to how the said object is for the benefit of a particular community only. Moreover only one object out of several objects cannot give a religious or communal colour to the assessee society. The rest of the objects aimed at developing the moral fabric of the society, help poor and needy children in their education and running charitable dispensaries and hospitals for the public at large are all charitable activities for the benefit of the general public. The Ld.Counsel has even demonstrated carrying out the same in the preceding years by way of documents filed showing conducting free eye operations and carrying out medical tests at subsidized rates which has not been controverted by the Revenue. We also find ,on perusing the financial statements of the assessee society for the preceding three years i.e. year ending on 31-03-13,31-03-14 & 31-03-15 that all expenditures incurred are only in the context of running its charitable dispensary by way of purchasing ....
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....m careful reading of relevant part of impugned order (supra), we clearly observe that it is not a case of the ld CIT (E) that funds have been used beyond charitable objects of Trust or have been misused or used other than charitable purposes. Therefore, the contentions of ld CIT DR are not acceptable as he cannot be allowed to make a new case before the Tribunal. 17. The ld CIT DR submitted that the appellant did not file note on charitable activities and copies of the Final accounts for immediately preceding financial year. The ld counsel submitted that the assessee submitted all required documents before the ld CIT (E) and he did not call any further documents. Ld CIT DR cannot be allowed to make a new view at this belated stage. Further, on perusal of the impugned order, we clearly observe that the ld CIT (E) has not pointed out any defect in the application of the assessee. However, only on the basis of clause (iii) of sub-section (5) of Section 80G, he denied registration u/s.80G of the Act by observing that the Trust's activities includes religious activities and violating the provisions of section 80G(5)(iii) of the Act. As we have noted that the clause (iii) does not creat....