TMI Blog2017 (3) TMI 323X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... contended that the holistic intervention implies comprehensive understanding of the root cause of criminality and corresponding mode of treatment leading to provision of after care for rehabilitation. The prisoner coming to main stream of society is relevant and benefit of general public and society. The imparting of training in Correctional Administration to all officials of prison/police/judicial department would ultimately benefit the prisoners to change their attitude and behaviour so that they can be re-habilitated in society on completion of their sentence. Ultimately, the consumer of this training provided to the officers of Correctional Administration would be initially the prisoners who are part of the society and ultimately general public of society. The training would promote the welfare of general public. The objects of the assessee are to promote welfare of general public which would be charitable in nature. Therefore, the primary purpose and the predominant object of assessee society are to promote the welfare of general public, the purpose would be charitable purpose. Assessee is entitled for registration under section 12AA of the Act. - Decided in favour of asse ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tion 12A of the Act. The said society has been registered with the Registrar of Firms Societies, Chandigarh on 11.07.1989. The inquiry report of the Assessing Officer has been received in this case in which it was submitted that objects of the assessee society are not of charitable nature as per provisions of Section 2(15) of the Act. Hence, Assessing Officer has not recommended the case for grant of registration under section 12AA of the Act. The ld.CIT fixed the case for hearing and assessee society was requested to furnish supporting documents including the books of account, bills and vouchers etc. In response to this, assessee's counsel attended proceedings before ld.CIT. During the course of hearing, assessee was directed to explain as to how objects of the assessee society were of charitable nature within the meaning of provisions of Section 2(15) of the Act. The assessee filed written explanation before ld. CIT and the relevant portion is reproduced in the impugned order which reads as under : I wish to submit that Various High Powered Committees constituted by the Government of India have emphasized of the need for imparting training to prison personal at diff ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ent Board was constituted by Govt. of India, Ministry of Home Affairs vide the order on notification No.V-16014/3/99/GPA dated 11th May, 2004. As regard the applicability of charitable activities are concerned it is stated that Charitable purpose includes not only relief of the poor, education and medical relief alone, but advancement of other objects of general public utility as well. The clause is intended to serve as a special definition of the expression charitable purpose for the Act, it is again inclusive and not exhaustive or exclusive. Even if the object or purpose may not be regarded as charitable in its popular signification as not tending to give relief to the poor or for advancement of education or medical relief, it would still be included in the expression charitable purpose if it advances an object of general public utility. The expression object of general public utility , however, is not restricted to objects beneficial to the whole of mankind. An object beneficial to a section of the public is an object of general public utility. To serve a charitable purpose, it is not necessary that the object should be to benefit the whole mankind or even all persons ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ciation of the Society, it is seen that the main object of the society is to import training in correctional administration and allied subjects to all officers of Central/State Government, including those of prisons, Police Judicial Department. The society imparts training to officials of the Government departments by way of organizing workshops, seminar on various subjects like human rights in management, personality development, right to information Act etc. It is evident from the details furnished by the AR during the course of proceedings that the society has organized workshop/various courses in its institute for imparting training to 570, 608 646 officers during the calendar year 2010, 2011 2012 respectively. As such there is no element of charity involved because these workshops/courses were organized for officers only and in no way it can be termed as advancement of any other object of general public utility. The AR's submission that this training is necessary to bring the unlawful people/prisoners to the main stream of the society is also not relevant. The applicant society is engaged in imparting training by way of organizing seminars etc. to the Govt. offi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... aspects of criminology of law, public administration and personnel management, besides, of course, sociology and psychology which have a bearing on criminal behaviour. Thus training to be imparted to the prison personnel will have to be multidimensional in character and approach. This would naturally call for well-organized, training institutions both at the state as well as regional levels. Various High Powered Committees constituted by the Government of India have emphasized on the need for imparting training to prison personnel at different levels. These committees have observed that the success of the Correctional Administration would depend mainly on the faith, philosophy and efficiency of the Correctional Personnel which in turn are determined by the quality of training imparted to them. The All India Committee on Jail Reforms (1980-83) also laid great stress on training of prison personnel and recommended establishment of proper training institutions for correctional officers at the regional and national levels - while training of the warder staff could be imparted at state level. The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs while considering the scheme on Modernizat ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on contract and other is part time on daily rates wages) (iv) Three Malis on daily rates wages. The Institute has so far organized 326 training courses both for prison and police apart from holding a number of symposia, seminars, panel discussions on Jail Reforms. The following training courses have been organized for the prison personnel : Identification of Best Prison Practices, Correctional Legislation, Counselling Techniques for Correction, Capacity Building for Prisoners Welfare, Attitudinal Change, Motivation, and Leadership for Correction, Contemporary Advances in Criminology and Correction, Correctional Alternatives to Imprisonment, Emerging Models and - Measures of Correction : Intramural and Extramural, Principles and Techniques of Correctional Management, etc. The Hon'ble High Court Judges, Professors in the Universities from various disciplines viz., Psychology, Sociology, Criminology, Laws, Psychiatry and Jail Administrators have been participating in the Correctional Programmes of the Institute. Since the Jail Administration that the country has inherited is governed by the philosophy of deterrence the custody orientation gains precedence over correctio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... trust and rapport through the process of Counselling. (iii) Our trailing courses also give due importance to the concept of stress management. The factors and psychosomatic outcome of stress are brought home to the participants. Participants are also trained in stress relieving techniques. (iv) An awareness is being created amongst the prison management about the role and participation of private industrial entrepreneurs in the prison industry. In fact a beginning has been made in a prison in Himachal Pradesh Where kerosene heaters on the Japanese model are being manufactured / assembled by a NRI industrialist. His plans to employ the prisoners as unskilled labour in his enterprise are apt to go a long way in the rehabilitation of the prisoners after their release with the money they will earn in the prison. Similarly, the prison department in the Punjab State has involved private entrepreneurs with whose cooperation sports goods are being manufactured in the Jail Premises of Jalandhar (v) The training courses of the Institute also include workshops on the techniques of behaviour Modification, which include life planning, mental healing and self-analysis. (vi) ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... provide training to the jail/correctional centres for rehabilitation of the prisoners, the subject of training of custodial officers and staff has assumed great significance. If societies attitude towards the prisoners has to change, a beginning will have to be made with the prison personnel staff. The psychology of the Correctional Institution towards the criminals shall have to be changed so that the attitude and behaviour of the prisoners has changed, thus training to be imparted to the prison personnel will have to be multi- dimensional in character and approach. This would naturally call for well organized training institutions both at the state as well as regional centres. The ld. counsel for the assessee further submitted that genuineness of the activities of the assessee have not been disputed by the ld. CIT. The object of the assessee society are clearly for advancement of any other object of general public utility . Therefore, assessee is entitled for registration under section 12AA of the Act. In support of his contention, he has relied upon decisions of the Delhi High Court in the case of Bureau of Indian Standards Vs Director General of Income Tax (Exempt ion) Writ Pe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ely providing training to the government officers, therefore, it is not doing any charitable activity or any other object of general public utility, therefore, registration has been correctly denied to the assessee. 11. We have considered rival submissions. Section 12AA of the Income Tax Act provides procedure for registration and provides that the Commissioner on receipt of application for registration shall call for such document or information from the Trust or Institution in order to satisfy himself about the genuineness of the activities of the Trust or Institution and after satisfying himself about the objects of the Trust or Institution and genuineness of its activities may grant registration or may not grant registration. Therefore, before grant of registration or rejecting the grant of registration, ld. CIT is required to satisfy himself about the objects of the institution and genuineness of its activities. Section 2(15) of the Act provides definition of 'charitable purpose' and reads as under :- 2(15) charitable purpose includes relief of the poor, education, medical relief , preservation of environment (including watersheds, forests and wildlife) and pr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ent agencies involving the punishment, treatment and supervision of prisoners who have been convicted of crimes. Its functions commonly include imprisonment, parole and probation. A typical Correctional Institute is a prison. A correctional system thus refers to a network of agencies that administer the jurisdiction of prison and community-based a program like parole and probation board. This system is part of the larger criminal justice system which additionally includes police, prosecution and prison. In nutshell, Correctional Administration refers to treatment meted out to prisoners by government agencies as part of the criminal justice system. 13(i) For the effective functioning of the Indian Law and justice system correctional system plays a very important role. The basic principles guiding correctional system has been laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in its judgment on various aspects of prison administration which are, firstly, a person in prison does not become a non-person. Secondly, a person in prison is entitled to all human rights within the limitations of imprisonment. Thirdly, there is no justification for aggravating the suffering already inhere ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... disturbing elements. This for all purpose serves the larger interest of the society/general public and can be nothing else but a public utility service. The fact that people have been awarded the Ramon Magsaysay award for government service including human prison reforms outlines the public utility of correctional system. The assessee, therefore, rightly contended that the holistic intervention implies comprehensive understanding of the root cause of criminality and corresponding mode of treatment leading to provision of after care for rehabilitation. The prisoner coming to main stream of society is relevant and benefit of general public and society. 15. The benefit to the society/community is of the essense of a valid charity. Re-habilitation of convicts/criminals in society after serving their sentence without profit motive is also object of general public utility, since it promotes interest of civil society. When the primary purpose and predominant object are to promote the welfare of general public, the purpose would be charitable purpose. 15(i). The imparting of training in Correctional Administration to all officials of prison/police/judicial department would ultimatel ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Tax (Appeals), Chandigarh gravelly erred in upholding the order of the Id. Assessing Officer in which he has gravelly erred in ignoring the fact that the grant provided by the MHA (Central Govt.) is not a voluntary contribution but is in respect of amount for which the appellant is a Nodal Agency and the same is provided in the planned budget. As such is not the income of the appellant . 3. That the Id. Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), Chandigarh gravelly erred in upholding the order of the Id. Assessing Officer in which he has gravelly erred in ignoring the fact that the appellant is acting as Nodal Agency for carrying out the projects for which it was given the grants i.e. training courses on Human Rights in Prison Management, Prison Security Management, Personality Development and Development of prison personnel, Gender Sensitization, etc. and workshops on Juvenile Justice and Anti-Human Trafficking etc. 21. This appeal was also dismissed in default earlier which have been restored on filing Miscellaneous Application by the assessee and earlier order was recalled and appeal was re-fixed for hearing on merits. The ld. CIT(Appeals) noted in the impugned order that As ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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