BETHEL EVANGELISTIC AND FELLOWSHIP CENTRE,THRISSUR vs. CIT -EXEMPTIONS, KOCHI
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Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, COCHIN BENCH, COCHIN
Before: Shri Waseem Ahmed & Shri Soundararajan K., JudicialMember
IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL COCHIN BENCH, COCHIN Before Shri Waseem Ahmed, Accountant Member and Shri Soundararajan K., JudicialMember
ITA No. 642/Coch/2023 (Assessment Year: 2022-23)
Bethel Evangelistic and Commissioner of Income Tax Fellowship Centre (Exemptions) 7/994-A, Mannuthy vs. Aayakar Bhavan, Chittoor Thrissur 680651 Road, Kochi 682018 [PAN: AACTB3934C] (Appellant) (Respondent)
Appellant by: ------- None ------- Respondent by: Smt. Girly Albert, Sr. D.R.
Date of Hearing: 24.09.2024 Date of Pronouncement: 26.09.2024
O R D E R Per Bench This appeal filed by the Revenue is directed against the order of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemption) dated 26.07.2023 for Assessment Year (AY)2022-23.
The only issue raised by the assessee is that the ld. CIT (exemption) erred in denying the registration applied under section 80 G of the Act.
In the present case, the registration application filed by the assessee under section 80G of the Act was rejected by the ld. ld. CIT (exemption) on the reasoning that the assessee was registered under section 12AA of the Act as a religious trust. Furthermore, the activities of the trust were mainly extending the benefit to one
2 ITA No. 642/Coch/2023 Bethel Evangelistic and Fellowship Centre particular community. Being aggrieved by the order of the ld. CIT (exemption), the assessee is in appeal before us.
The assessee before us has filed the statement of facts and the grounds of appeal wherein it was contended that the assessee is a public religious charitable trust and serving without discrimination of caste, creed, religion, faith, or gender. Likewise, none of the clauses of the trust deed was to benefit the trustee or the office bearers directly or indirectly. Furthermore, the activities of the assessee were not commercial in nature. The assessee, in the grounds of appeal, has also submitted that the application has been rejected by the CIT exemption without giving the opportunity to the assessee. Likewise, there is no basis drawn by the ld. CIT exemption for reaching the conclusion that the is a assessee a religious trust. It was also contended in the grounds of appeal that the provisions of section 80G(5B) of the Act has not been verified by the ld. CIT (exemption) before rejecting the registration as discussed above.
On the other hand, the ld. DR vehemently supported the order of the authorities below.
We have heard the ld. DR appearing on behalf of the Revenue and perused the materials available on record. On perusal of the order of the ld. CIT exemption, we note that the finding has been given by the ld. CIT (exemption) in just a few words without reasoning which is not in consonance with the provisions of law. The ld. CIT exemption has nowhere provided the basis of holding that the activities of the trust are for a particular community.
At this juncture, it is pertinent to note that the Chandigarh ITAT in the case of Kuka Martyrs Memorial Trust reported in 35 taxmann.com 516 has observed as under:
3 ITA No. 642/Coch/2023 Bethel Evangelistic and Fellowship Centre “Thus, apart from giving an inclusive definition of the term 'charitable purpose', the addition to its meaning by way of 'provisos' shows that its meaning goes on increasing, restricted or retained in view of the general understanding or requirement of the 'public charity'. Thus, the meaning of public-charity goes on changing but the main idea of charity remains static. To propagate the message, teaching, ideals and philosophy of all the religious and spiritual reformers, prophets and leading figures of the world including Sikh Gurus with special emphasis on vegetarianism, is nothing but a 'public charitable object'. The teaching of gurus with a view to spread vegetarian way of life definitely saves the wild life and would help in preserving environment. Thus, without viewing the meaning of the above object from a limited aperture whose simple use of the word 'religion' is taken on otherwise is unfortunate. It is the religion which teaches one and all the way of life. How, one could live physically, mentally and socially happy and prosperous, is taught by one and all religion. So, it is religion in that wider sense of its meaning and not in the way of limited meaning of segmentalization of society and creating a divide in the society. Thus, the above object is for public charity and is not limited to a particular class or believer in a particular section. Hence, the decision of Hon'ble Apex Court in Upper Ganges Sugar Mills Ltd. (supra) will not apply to the facts of this case. Therefore, we direct ld. Commissioner to grant approval to the appellant Trust u/s 80G(5) as it has been claimed by it.”
In view of the above we are of the opinion that the issue on hand needs to be revisited at the level of ld. CIT exemption. Accordingly, we set aside the issue to the file of the ld. CIT- exemption to adjudicate the issue afresh in the light of the above stated discussion as per the provisions of law with detailed reasoning before rejecting the application filed by the assessee. Hence the ground of appeal of the assessee is hereby allowed for statistical purposes.
In the result, the appeal of the assessee is hereby allowed for statistical purposes.
Order pronounced on 26th September, 2024 under Rule 34 of The Income Tax (Appellate Tribunal) Rules, 1963. Sd/- Sd/- (Soundararajan K) (Waseem Ahmed) Judicial Member Accountant Member Cochin, Dated: 26th September, 2024 n.p.
4 ITA No. 642/Coch/2023 Bethel Evangelistic and Fellowship Centre Copy to:
The Appellant 2. The Respondent 3. The Pr. CIT concerned 4. The Sr. DR, ITAT, Cochin 5. Guard File By Order
Assistant Registrar ITAT, Cochin
