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2016 (5) TMI 817 - AT - Income TaxRegistration under section 12AA rejected - CIT(A) is of the view that the trust is not engaged in any form of charitable activities as is envisaged in section 2(15) of the Act and this view was formed considering the specific religious purposes of the objects mentioned in the trust deed of the assessee - Held that:- On going through the said objects of the trust, we see that these relate to imparting free Gurmat Sangeet, holding Kirtan Darbar, organizing Gurmat camps and to construct buildings, etc. The purpose of the trust is to run institution to spread teachings of Holy Guru Granth Sahib. At first, we observe that these objects nowhere point to the propagation of religious teachings and singing. Even if singing or teachings of specific kind are promoted through these objects, nowhere from other objects of the trust it is coming out that these teachings are to be given to a particular community only. The teachings of the Guru Granth Sahib are meant for each and every community and cannot be said to be for the propagation of a particular religious tenet. After observing such, we also emphasize that for granting registration under section 12AA of the Act, there is no bar on any trust which as per the Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemptions) cannot be given registration because of its being religious in nature. The only condition at the time of granting registration by the Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemptions) is to see whether the objects are of charitable in nature and the activities are genuine in nature. By holding that some of the objects of the trust are religious in nature, it cannot be inferred that these are not charitable in nature. Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemptions) concluded that these objects tend to point out that it is a closely held private trust whose purpose is to propagate religious tenets of Gurbani through music or singing. This is not a right reason for denying registration under section 12AA of the Act. There is no bar under section 12A not to give registration to a religious trust. Even a religious trust having charitable objects can be given registration under section 12AA of the Act. As regards the activities being for furtherance of the cause for a particular community, proper care has been taken by the Income Tax Act in its provisions of sections 11 and 13 of the Income Tax Act. However, at a time of giving registration under section 12AA of the Act, these are not the relevant things to be seen. These matters are to be looked after by the Assessing Officer during the assessment proceedings on yearly basis while granting exemptions to the assessee under section 11 of the Act. In order to arrive at the true purpose of a trust, the objectives are to be considered as a whole. Nowhere from any of the objects of the assessee, it appears that it aims to provide any benefit to a specific person or persons. We are in agreement with the submissions made by the learned counsel for the assessee that at the time of granting of registration, the only two factors, which are to be taken into consideration by the Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemptions) are charitable character of the objects of the trust and genuineness of the activities. Nowhere in his whole order, the Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemptions) has brought on record any evidence or material to show that the objects of the assessee trust are not charitable or the activities of the assessee trust are not genuine. In view of this, we direct the Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemptions) to grant registration under section 12AA of the Act to the assessee. - Decided in favour of assessee
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