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TMI Blog2022 (2) TMI 1083X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... g Officer in denying registration u/s 12AA of the Income-tax Act, 1961 is arbitrary, erroneous and illegal and must be quashed with directions for registering the same forthwith." 3. Akhil Bhartiya Shree Vekunthnath Sewa Dharmarth Trust Vrindaban - the Appellant herein was incorporated in August, 2010. The Trust was registered vide Registration No.5382 on 05.08.2017. 4. The Trust had been indulging in charitable activities including providing food to the poor through Bhandaras. It had audited accounts for the years ended 31.03.2013 to 31.03.2015. 5. The Trust submitted an application for registration u/s 12AA of the Income-tax Act, 1961 on 13.10.2015 to the Ld. Commissioner of Incometax (Exemptions), Chandigarh. 6. The objectives of th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... any of the limbs of Sec.2(15) of the Act; * that the purchase of land and the subsequent construction of Temple complex thereof by the Trust had been sourced mainly from corpus donations; * that the corpus donations lacked specific directions; * that the corpus donations having been utilized by the Trust for the purchase of land and construction of building was not charitable act; * that corpus donations had not been obtained to be utilized right at the very outset of the activities of the Trust; * that corpus funds were permanent funds retained for the basic expenditure needed for the administration and survival of the Trust; * that the corpus funds are generally not allowed to be utilized for the attainment of the objectives; ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... derstand and appreciate that the Trust was not holding any cows as part of its chattel so as to draw any milk or make any butter out of the yield. The Ld. CIT(E) erred in observing that the construction of Temple is not a charitable activity. The Ld. CIT(E) did not realize that if there is any benign activity for the public at large it is always charitable. The definition under Section 2(15) of the Act is not exhaustive. It is inclusive and merely illustrating. The scope of Section 2(15) is to be read with contents of the supplemental provisions such as Sections 11,12 and 13 of the Act. The later sections clearly delineate religion being indeed in the realm of charity. The Ld. CIT(E) could not realize that the Trust was in dire needs of fun ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ion as a charity u/s 12AA of the Act. The submission is made on the authority of the decision of Madras High Court in CIT vs. Arulmigu Sri Kamatchi Amman Trust (2012) 206 Taxman 69, of the Gujarat High Court DIT (E) vs. Sheth Jivandas Godidas Shankheshwar Parshwanathji Jain (2014) 221 Taxman 44 and of the apex court itself in CIT vs. Dawoodi Bohra Jamat (2014) 364 ITR 31 (SC). Keeping in view, the judgments quoted above, we hereby hold that the trust is eligible for registration u/s 12AA of the Act. In case, the activities of the trust are found to be not in the nature of charitable activities in the wider public interest, subsequently the department would be at liberty to invoke the relevant provisions of the Act to tax the surplus amount ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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