TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (12) TMI 676
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... Joseph, SC, Shri. P.G. Jayashankar, SC., Sri. G. Keerthivas, Shri. Justus S., CGC, Shri. Harikumar G. (Gopinathan Nair), By Adv Shri. M. Sasindran, By Adv Smt. Vandana P., CGC, Sri. P.G. Jayashankar, Shri. Navaneeth. N. Nath, CGC, Sri. G. Keerthivas. JUDGMENT In all these writ petitions, the petitioners are either administrative bodies of various temples under the Malabar Devaswom Board or the temples represented by their administrative bodies. In all these cases, the respective petitioners are seeking the benefit of Section 10(23BBA) of the Income Tax Act, which contemplates for a complete exemption from the Income Tax. 2. In W.P.(C). No. 27452 of 2023, the petitioner is the administrative body of a temple and challenge raised in this writ petition is against Ext.P11 order of assessment passed against the temple, pertaining to the assessment year 2018-2019. In other writ petitions, the petitioners are seeking refund of the TDS already collected from the deposits made in the name of the respective temples in various financial institutions. In some cases, the petitioners have sought for declaration that the income received by them are entitled to be exempted under Section ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....of the following, that is to say, public, religious or charitable trusts or endowments (including maths, temples, gurudwaras, wakfs, churches, synagogues, agiaries or other places of public religious worship) or societies for religious or charitable purposes registered as such under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 (21 of 1860), or any other law for the time being in force." Provided that nothing in this clause shall be construed to exempt from tax the income of any trust, endowment or society referred to therein. 8. Section 58 of the HR&CE Act reads as follows: "58. Power of Deputy Commissioner to frame scheme.- (1) When the Deputy Commissioner has reason to believe that in the interests of the proper administration of a religious institution, a scheme should be settled for the institution, or when not less than five persons having interest make an application in writing, stating that in the interests of the proper administration of a religious institution a scheme should be settled for it, the Deputy Commissioner shall consult in the prescribed manner the trustee and the persons having interest and the Area Committee, if any, having jurisdiction ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
.... scheme for a temple or for a specific endowment other than one attached to a math, the Deputy Commissioner may appoint a fit person to discharge all or any of the functions the trustee thereof and define his powers and duties. (6) The Deputy Commissioner may, at any time, after consulting the trustee and the persons having interest and the Area Committee, if any, having jurisdiction over the institution, by order, modify or cancel any scheme settled under sub-section (1) or a scheme settled by the Board under the Madras Hindu Religious Endowments Act, 1926. (7) Every order of the Deputy Commissioner settling, modifying or cancelling a scheme under this section shall be published in the prescribed manner and on such publication shall, subject to the provisions of Sections 61 and 62, be binding on the trustee, the executive officer and all persons having interest. (8) The powers conferred by this section shall, in respect of maths, be exercised by the Commissioner or by a Deputy Commissioner to whom powers in this behalf have been delegated by the Commissioner under Section 10, sub-section (2)." Section 6(14) of the HR&CE Act reads as follows: ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....cieties Registration Act. Proviso to section 10(23BBA) further contemplates that, nothing in the said provision shall be construed to exempt from tax, the income of any trust, endowment or society referred to therein. 10. Thus, on going through the scheme envisaged as per the said provision, it can be seen that, what is exempted is the income of the body or authority, which is created for the purpose of administration of a public religious trust or endowment, which are referred to above. Thus, as pointed out by the learned standing counsel for the income tax, the income of such body or authority alone is exempted, and the establishments/institutions which are under the administration of the said authority as such, is not exempted from the liability to pay the income tax. Proviso to the said provision confirms the said aspect, by clearly specifying that the provisions under the said Act, should not be construed to mean that, the income of any proposed endowment or society which are subjected to the administration by the bodies referred to in the provision is exempted from tax. Therefore, a clear distinction has been drawn as per the aforesaid provision, between the income of the ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....tions, to the income of religious institutions, it was not necessary to incorporate another statutory provision for extending a further exemption which is unconditional, as per Section 10(23BBA) of the Act. Thus, while understanding the scheme of the Act, particularly with respect to the exemptions under Section 10(23BBA), Section 11 as well as Section 12, it is very clear that, the intention behind the incorporation of Section 10(23BBA) was to grant exemption to the body or authority referred to in the said provision alone, since the said body or authority may not be eligible to get exemption under Section 11 or 12 of the Act. 14. Apart from the above, another aspect to be noticed is that, even going by the contentions of the respondents, the administrative bodies of the respective temples were created under the scheme formulated as per Section 58 of the HR&CE Act, 1951. The scheme under which these establishments are created is produced as Ext.P3 in W.P.(C). No.36964 of 2024. As rightly pointed out by the learned standing counsel, clause (3) of the said scheme provides that, all the temples covered as per the scheme or the other shrines attached thereto, all the properties and....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....urable Supreme Court, including the judgment of Madras High Court in Sri. Amrithakadeswaraswamy Devasthanam Dharumapuram Adheenam v. The Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax Officer, Kumbakonam & Others [CDJ 2021 MHC 1706], Jagannath Temple Managing Committee, Puri v. Commissioner of Income Tax Bhuvaneswar and Others [AIR 2008 Ori.37] rendered by the Orissa High Court and the decision rendered by the Hon'ble Apex Court in State of Haryana v. Bharti Teletech Ltd [(2014) 3 SCC 556]. 18. However, in all the above said cases, the issue considered was whether the assessee therein was created or established under the State statute and there was no question as to whether the income is that of the body which is administering the temple or that of the temple/deity. However, in the decision rendered by the Madras High Court, in Sri. Amrithakadeswaraswamy Devasthanam Dharumapuram Adheenam (supra), this issue was considered and the claims of all the parties except one Vaithiyananthaswamy Devasthanam, were rejected by holding that, the individually constituted temples are liable to pay tax in the light of the proviso to Section 10(23BBA) of the Act. Thus, the view taken by this Court is fort....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....nvoking the remedies. In these cases, the challenges are raised by the respective petitioners at various stages of the proceedings. Only in W.P(C) No.27452/2023, the proceeding had escalated into an assessment order, which is under challenge therein. As far as the other cases are concerned, those include cases in which, claims for TDS is rejected or claims for TDS is pending or in some cases, notices under Section 148A are issued. Therefore, I am of the view that, even while holding that, if the income is that of the temple, it would not be entitled to exemption under Section 10(23BBA) of the Act, the source of the income or the institution, which received such income being factual dispute, can be left open, to be decided by the appropriate authorities in appropriate proceedings. In such circumstances, these writ petitions are disposed of holding that, exemption contemplated under Section 10(23BBA) is applicable only in respect of the bodies and authorities constituted, established and appointed under the Central, State or Provincial Act, and the same is not applicable to the public religious or charitable trusts or endowments (including maths, temples, gurdwaras, wakfs, churche....