TMI Blog2019 (3) TMI 1674X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hus the observations and the findings of the AO that it is purely a religious trust and hence the objects of the trust cannot be sustained. AO we do not find any distinguish on merits because 1/3 disallowance of expenditure on telecast of samagam, there might be some kind of benefit to Guruji one of the persons specified u/s 13(3) because such telecast goes personal benefit to the personality of Gurudevji. The legislature has categorically given the specified nature of benefits for which section 13(2) can be invoked. No such benefits have been prescribed by the AO which is simply based on hypothecs that defects of TV telecast benefits to the Guruji because he has benefited by these TV programmes. In fact such kind of spiritual lectures telecast comes on TV is main for general public at large and not for benefit of the delivery of the lectures. Hence this contention of the disallowance made by the AO is rejected. On the issue of addition on anonymous donations that assessee must have incurred expenditure from anonymous donations for organising samagam here also whereas it is not disputed by the AO that expenditure incurred on Samagam expenses then how there being any materi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... re that assessee trust was granted registration u/s 12A vide certificate / order dated 20.5.2005. The said trust was created vide trust deed dated 30.12.2002 which was set up by its founder Brhamrish Shree Kumar Swamiji. The objects of the trust have been incorporated in the impugned assessment order are as under :- i. To establish, promote, set-up, run, maintain assist finance, support and /or help in setting up and/or maintaining and /or running schools, and other institutions orphanages, widow home, poor houses 'or other establishments for relief and/or help to the poor, old and infirm people ii. To give promote and/or render help and assistance in cash or kind to poor and/or destitute people widows etc. iii. To give, provide and/or render help and assistance to and/or implement any scheme for providing livelihood and upliftment of the poor. iv. To work for upliftmen1 of women, girls-widows, orphans, illiterate, old-aged, handicapped and mentally retarded persons. v. To provide food shelter to poor and needy persons. vi. To distribute scholarships to the eligible students children. vii. To arrange, esta ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ng and vocational institutes. xvii. To promote, organize, administer, establish support maintain and/or grant and to person institution or society or organisation is ever having for the objects of charitable purpose and to incur expenditure in connection therewith. xviii. To promote assist and/or maintain all activities by whomsoever carried on or wherever carried on in India, in confirming with the objects of the trust and as are conductive to all well being and general welfare of the nation or are conductive or advancement of any objects or objects of general public against not involving carrying on any activity for public. xix. To publish and/or publishing books, pamplets, periodicals and newspapers in India or outside for to spread and advancement of education, arts, science, ethics and culture. xx. To promote and encourage education and training in handicrafts, fine arts, among women and children and establish and found institutions in parting to such education and to establish, maintain, support or help by monetary gifts, or otherwise centres and institutions for women and children and to provide social welfare works for women and child ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he assesee and also other judgments. He also tried to reject the assessee s contention that objects of the trust include imparting of spiritual lectures and the words spiritual and religious are sacrosanct. The reason given by for such rejection is that in the dictionary these two have been a different connotation. After detailed discussion and looking to the activities carried out by the assesee organising spiritual and other various religious and rituals, he held that thus activities are purely religious and hence asessee is entitled to claim exemption u/s 11 and 12. He also referred to the earlier assessment orders for the assessment year 2009-10 and 2010-11 wherein it was held that assessee and spiritual organisations. However, in this year the facts have changed simply because assessee has set up a temple of Hindu God and Goddess and thus precedence of earlier years will not apply because assessee has decided the issue in favour of the assesee in those years. 4. He further observed that assessee has incurred expenditure of ₹ 3,10,01,534/- under the head Aadhyatamic Pravachan Expenses on telecast of samagams where religious discourses and Beej Mantras are give ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... res through various modes. Regarding disallowance of TV expenditure after invoking provision of section 13(1)(c) he held that no benefit directly or indirectly has gone to any of the trust because the dominant purpose for such kind of telecast for money was to impart discourses and not to gain any personal benefit as envisaged in the clauses of section 13(2). He further held that if such a presumption premise of the AO is taken then it will result into denial of exemption to most of the trust engaged in charitable activities in public domain on account of so called gaining of popularity and good will by the persons specified u/s 13(3) which was never been the intention of the legislature because section 13(2) has specified the various nature of benefits disentitling the trust benefit of exemption. Lastly, on account of addition of ₹ 50 lacs on unexplained expenditure on Samagam expenses he accepted the assessee s contention that the onus was on the AO to bring on record expenses incurred by the assessee which are not found recorded in the books of accounts. Here in this case, the AO has miserably failed. Thus after detailed discussion he held that assessee was not entitled fo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d reasoning as to why the facts are different from earlier years and in any case the assessee s entire activities have been found to be for religious purpose and no such objects of religious purpose has been enshrined in the trust deed and, therefore, such activities beyond the objects cannot entitled the asseee s trust for benefiting u/s 11(1). Unfortunately, there is no such arguments noted by him. Thus activities of the assessee being purely religious in nature and not given in the trust deed therefore entire benefit u/s 11(1) gets forfeited. 9. We have heard the rival submission, perused the relevant finding given in the impugned orders and also in the case of the assessee in the previous years. It is an undisputed fact that based on the objects as enshrined in the trust deed the assessee was given registration u/s 12A and such a registration has neither been revoked nor cancelled by the competent authority . It is a trite law if any proof or institution has been granted registration u/s 12A then income of such trust has to be constituted strictly in accordance with section 11 to 13.This is a which AO has to strictly adhered to. If assesee is not carrying out any acti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to be appropriately construed in the context of the document i.e. then Trust Deed in the present case. Before we proceed to consider the Trust Deed, it also needs to be kept in mind that it is a well accepted principle of interpretation that the nomenclature adopted by the parties in any document is not conclusive to indicate the real nature of the document or the intention it actually records. It is the duty of the Court to see and examine what in truth is the essential and factual nature of the document. This Rule relating to inconclusiveness of the nomenclature adopted is more relevant in interpretation of document then on law and Court is never found or concluded by language which may have been used in the document. Hence in order to determine whether the expression spiritual used in the Trust Deed conveyed its real nature and meaning it must follow that it is the Trust Deed itself and its form and content which is to be examined and considered alongwith the expression spiritual as understood in its popular senseuti loquitor vulgus so as to be in accord with the real intention of the parties as appearing from the instrument. 10.7. On a consideration of the above a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e above enumerated list when taken in the contest of extreme devastating tragedies and the needs of destitute; old age; infirm etc needs no specific treatise to bring out the potential importance and benefits of spiritual lecture to the target group of mentally disturbed, destitute due to calamities, natural or man-made, age, orphaned, widowed etc. The potential benefit and succor to these target groups by way of some philosophy or imparting of belief that there is some power beyond all this which is watching out for them cannot either be under-estimated or over-emphasized and has to be considered in the proper perspective. The fact that these arguments/philosophy on the touchstone of science may fail and to some of us non-believers maybe only rhetoric is not a relevant consideration as what cannot be cured has to be endured, for a person on his last breath is no reason to callously subscribe to the philosophy that such a person should be deprived of the psychological comfort of believing that somewhere in the universe there may have been a: greater purpose in going through the painful experience. The issue is not what we believe but what strength can be imparted to a potential des ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and position of law, we hold that the Revenue has incorrectly applied section 115BBC to the facts of the assessee's case. 10. In the appeal before the Hon ble High Court against the said judgement the High Court has noted the submission of the Ld. Sr. Standing Counsel of the revenue had discussed the issue threadbare in the following manner :- 8. It was submitted by Mr. Kamal Sawhney that none of the activities stated in Clause 5 of the Trust Deed can be said to be a purely religious activity. In other words charitable activities enumerated therein could not be said to be religious activities . According to Mr. Sawhney, even giving of spiritual lectures would not strictly qualify as a religious activity. Thereafter their Lordship posed a question for adjudication whether donation received by the assessee trust which has been taxed within the scope of 115BBC simply because the department has held that activities of the trust was spiritual and not religious. Their Lordship have answered the said question in the following manner :- 11. Therefore, it becomes necessary to examine whether the ITAT was on the facts of the present case just ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in the context of the Hindu religion need not be confined the activities incidental to a place of worship like a temple. The Supreme Court in the Commissioner, Hindu Religious Endowments, Madras v. Sri Lakshmindra Thirtha Swamiar 1954 AIR 282 SC held that a religious denomination or organisation enjoys complete autonomy in the matter of deciding as to what rites and ceremonies are essential according to the tenets of the religion they hold and no outside authority has any jurisdiction to interfere with their decision in such matters. It examined the scope of the protection under Article 25 and 26 of the Constitution and observed as follows : 14. We now come to Article 25 which, as its language indicates, secures to every person, subject to public order, health and morality, a freedom not only to entertain such religious belief, as may be approved of by his judgment and conscience, but also to exhibit his belief in such outward acts as he thinks proper and to propagate or disseminate his ideas for the edification of others. 17..What then are matters of religion? The word religion has not been defined in the constitution and it is a term which is hardly sus ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ble Apex Court has defined the concept of religion and also in another judgment as quoted in para 14 their Lordship has also defined the religious activities under the Hindu faith which is mainly a way of life. After referring to these judgments their Lordships have held that the religious institutions like assessee are also engaged in charitable activities which are very much part of religious activities and such activities alongwith organising spiritual lectures by no means to be a religion institution and has to be seen in the context of objects of the assessee trust and accordingly by such reasoning the order of the Tribunal was affirmed. We do not find that the ratios 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. We find it very difficult to fathom that simply because assesssee s activities have been held to be religious by the AO then same is either not charitable or assessee on his transgress its activities from the objects the so called religious activities here in this case is nothing but spiritual activities because it has been making spiritual and religious discourses in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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