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TMI Blog2023 (1) TMI 412X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... pread the knowledge of VEDAS; (b) To spread vedic education, vedic chanting and its knowledge, to encourage and teach the tradition of Vedic Chanting in India which has been declared and notified by the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in the Intangible Cultural Heritage List (Proclaimed in 2003 and Inscribed in 2008); (c) To protect, preserve, teach, spread and encourage the knowledge of Indian heritage and culture contained in various Dharma Granthas, Dharma Shastras, Sutras, Shruti, Smruti, Puranas etc.; (d) To teach, impart and encourage the learning of Sanskrit; (e) To encourage students of studies having Indian Heritage Value; (f) To provide accommodation facility and other amenities required for the well being of students studying Vedic education; (g) To financially support the deserving students, teachers and scholars involved in learning of Indian Heritage Education; (h) To financially support the deserving students, teachers and scholars, involved in learning of Indian Heritage Education, for their modern education; (i) To help in building the infrastructure to teach modern education to those pursuing tradit ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... herefore the assessee is eligible for regular registration under section 12AB and regular approval under section 80G as a Charitable trust was electronically filed on 3.9.2022 and physically filed on 5.9.2022. The learned CIT (Exemptions) heard the matter and passed the order of registration under section 12A(1)(ac)(iii) on 29.9.2022 registering the assessee as RELIGIOUS and not as CHARITABLE for the reasons mentioned in another order dated 29.9.2022 rejecting the application for approval under section 80G. 5. Aggrieved by the two orders dated 29.9.2022 wherein (i) the appellant Trust was registered as RELIGIOUS and not as CHARITABLE and (ii) approval under section 80G was rejected, the appellant has filed two separate appeals viz., ITA No 1082/B/2022 and ITA No 1083/B/2022 before the Hon'ble ITAT, Bangalore bench. 6. Section 80G applies only to charitable trusts or institutions. It does not apply to religious trusts or institutions whereas scheme of exemption u/s 12A applies to both charitable as well as religious trusts. Section 80G of the Income Tax Act'1961 provides that any donation to a charitable institution or funds approved under the said section shall be entitled to ded ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ia or under section 253 of the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956), or is a University established by law, or is any other educational institution recognised by the Government or by a University established by law, or affiliated to any University established by law, or is an institution financed wholly or in part by the Government or a local authority; Explanation 3 to section 80G states that "charitable purpose" does not include any purpose the whole or substantially the whole of which is of a religious nature. 8. In the present case, the learned CIT(E) has held that the asessee is engaged in a religious activity of teaching Vedas, a Hindu religious scripture, to Hindu students and hence the whole purpose of the trust is of religious nature as per Explanation 3 to section 80G. It is therefore concluded that the appellant Trust is not eligible for approval under section 80G. In coming to the above conclusion, the learned CIT(E) has relied on certain decisions which are distinguishable / not applicable to the facts of the present case. 9. It was submitted that Hinduism is a way of life and not a religion. In this regard reliance was placed on observations of the Hon'ble Madras Hig ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... [2012] 20 taxmann.com 221 (Jaipur) and Upper Ganges Sugar Mills Ltd v CIT [1997] 93 Taxman 645 (SC). He also relied on the decision of CIT(E) whereby he distinguished decisions relied on by the assessee on the ground that they were rendered prior to the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Upper Ganges Sugar Mills Ltd v CIT [1997] 93 Taxman 645 (SC) and hence not applicable to the facts of the case. He submitted that various decisions relied on by the assessee were rendered without having the benefit of the above decision of the Supreme Court. According to him, Apex Court's decision has sealed the discussion on the issue, by holding that 'to establish, maintain and grant aid to public places of worship and prayer halls' was an entirely religious purpose. He submitted that the ratio laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court is squarely applicable to the present case, since teaching of Vedas involves offering worship and prayer to God. 12. We have carefully considered the rival submissions. It is not in dispute that the beneficiaries of the assessee-trust are members of general public irrespective of race, religion, caste, community, creed or gender (refer para 2.1 of the trust ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... spective of caste, creed, religion. The trust has conducted the vedic classes by going to the houses of all interested people irrespective of caste, creed, gender or religion and has taught them the importance of Vedas. During Covid, the trust provided financial assistance to the poor Vedic scholars and distributed food kit, cloths, medicines for the needy. All the expenses to carry out the above charitable objectives are met out of donations received. No fees or honorarium or money is charged by the trust or by any Trustees for conducting the vedic classes, chanting or for any programmes. All trustees work selflessly for achieving the charitable objects of the Trust. 14. Explanation 3 to section 80G states that "charitable purpose" does not include any purpose the whole or substantially the whole of which is of a religious nature. In the present case, the learned CIT(E) has held that the assessee is engaged in a religious activity of teaching Vedas, a Hindu religious scripture, to Hindu students and hence the whole purpose of the trust is of religious nature as per Explanation 3 to section 80G. It is therefore concluded that the assessee Trust is not eligible for approval under s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ndicate that no precise meaning can be ascribed to the terms `Hindu', `Hindutva' and `Hinduism'; and no meaning in the abstract can confine it to the narrow limits of religion alone, excluding the content of Indian culture and heritage. It is also indicated that the term `Hindutva' is related more to the way of life of the people in the sub- continent. It is difficult to appreciate how in the face of these decisions the term `Hindutva' or `Hinduism' per se, in the abstract, can be assumed to mean and be equated with narrow fundamentalist Hindu religious bigotry, or be construed to fall within the prohibition in sub-sections (3) and/or (3A) of Section 123 of the R.P. Act." Ordinarily, Hindutva is understood as a way of life or a state of mind and it is not to be equated with, or understood as religious Hindu fundamentalism. "Thus, it cannot be doubted, particularly in view of the Constitution Bench decisions of this Court that the words `Hinduism' or `Hindutva' are not necessarily to be understood and construed narrowly, confined only to the strict Hindu religious practices unrelated to the culture and ethos of the people of India, depicting the w ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... l, the Tribunal held reversing the order of CIT that the objects of the assessee are not for advancement, support or propagation of a particular religion. Worshipping Lord Shiva, Hanumanji, Goddess Durga and maintaining the temple is not advancement, support or propagation of a particular religion. Lord Shiva, Hanumanji & Goddess Durga do not represent any particular religion. They are merely regarded to be the super power of the universe. Further, there is no religion like "Hinduism". The word "Hindu" is not defined in any of the texts nor in judge made law. The word was given by British administrators to inhabitants of India, who were not Christians, Muslims, Parsis or Jews. Hinduism is a way of life. It consists of a number of communities having different gods who are being worshipped in a different manner, different rituals, different ethical codes. The worship of God is not essential for a person who has adopted Hinduism way of life. Therefore, expenses incurred for worshipping of Lord Shiva, Hanuman, Goddess Durga and for maintenance of temple cannot be regarded to be for religious purpose. In holding so, the Tribunal referred to the decisions in the case of Commissioner of H ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... that the Assessee is a charitable and religious trust which does not benefit any specific religious community and therefore, it cannot be held that it exists solely for religious purpose. It cannot be characterised as religious object especially when it does not make a distinction between caste, creed, race, religion, etc. 16. In the light of the aforesaid discussion, we are satisfied that the plea of the Assessee to recognize it as existing for "Charitable Purpose" deserves to be accepted and is accepted. We accordingly allow the plea of the Assessee and direct that the registration be allowed treating the Assessee as existing for "Charitable purpose". 19. In Vaidik Bhakti Sadan Asram v CIT [2010] 5 ITR (Trib) 590 (Delhi), the Tribunal held that propagation of vedic thoughts and philosophy cannot be attributed to any religion as the same are more concerned with the lifestyle of the human beings. The relevant observations are as under:- "9. A perusal of the impugned order of the learned Commissioner of Income-tax shows that the renewal of registration under section 80G was denied by him to the assessee-trust mainly on three grounds which have already been enumerated by us w ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r substantially wholly, of a religious nature. There is little doubt that clause 2(h)of the trust deed which permits the trustees to support prayer halls and places of worship sets out a purpose the whole or substantially the whole of which is of a religious nature, and this has not been seriously disputed. Therefore, in our view, the Trust and the donation by the assessee to it fall outside the scope of section 80G." 22. In the present case, objects of the assessee-Trust are reproduced in the earlier part of this order. The assessee Trust does not have any object 'to establish, maintain and to grant and / or aid to public places of worship and prayer halls' and hence the judgment of the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Upper Ganges Sugar Mills Ltd. Vs. CIT (supra) is inapplicable to the facts of the present case. The impugned conclusion of the learned CIT(E) that teaching of Vedas involve offering worship and prayer to God is not correct and bereft of any reason. The assessee only teaches the students how to recite the Vedas. There is a particular method of pronunciation of Vedas with Swaras attached to it. The recitation and pronunciation of Vedas is what is taught by the asse ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... this has not been seriously disputed. Therefore, in our view, the trust and the donation by the assessee to it fall outside the scope of section 80G." (p. 582) The aforesaid case is clearly distinguishable from the facts of the present case as there is no clause in the trust deed in the present case which indicates that income of the petitioner-trust was to be applied wholly or substantially for any particular religion. Therefore, the said case has been clearly wrongly applied by the learned CIT(A) in the present case. In Sri Marudhar Kesari Sthanakwasi Jain Yadgar Samiti Trust's case (supra) also relied upon by the learned Counsel for the revenue, the facts of the case were distinguishable in the said case. Thus, the judgments cited and relied upon by the learned Counsel for the revenue are distinguishable on facts and do not support the case of the respondents. Since the law in the case of Upper Ganges Sugar Mills (supra) was laid down while dealing the case of deduction under section 80G of the Act in the hands of donor so also in the case of Sri Marudhar Kesari Sthanakwasi Jain Yadgar Samiti Trust (supra) by this Court, those judgments do not advance cause of the revenue ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... was lost if one particular expenditure was made for repair and renovation of Lord Vishnu's temple and that too by way of contribution to another trust. Therefore, the order of the Commissioner was set aside and the petitioner-trust shall be deemed to be registered under section 80G throughout the period after April 1, 2004, with all consequential benefits." 26. The CIT(E) has relied on Kasyapa Veda Research Foundation v CIT [2011] 12 taxmann.com 286 (Cochin) to hold that Vedas are religious scriptures and Vedic Study is a study of Hindu religion or religious instruction. The said decision is distinguishable in view of various decisions as discussed hereinabove which holds that Hinduism itself is not a religion or community. The constitution bench decisions of the Supreme Court were not brought on record in the above decision and hence it is distinguishable. Without prejudice, the Tribunal in the above decision noted that universal appeal of Vedas and allowed registration in the status of charitable and religious Trust by holding as under:- "Vedas: Universal appeal 4.6 Vedanta is the philosophy which analysed and taught man to be moral consciously. It is the essence of all re ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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