“(i) Mere one contribution by the assessee trust to another
trust which carried out repairs and renovation of Lord Vishnu’s temple, did
not disentitle the assessee from renewal of its exemption certificate u/s.80G.
The line of distinction between the religious purpose and a charitable purpose
is very thin and no watertight compartment between the two activities can be
very well established. Unless the objective of the charitable trust in
question itself is of spending its income for a particular religion and it is
so found in the trust deed, the Income-tax Department cannot reject the
renewal of the trust as a charitable trust u/s.80G, merely because one
particular expenditure is for an activity which may be termed as spending for
a particular religion.
(ii) In the instant case, the repairs and renovation of
Lord Vishnu’s temple did not necessarily mean that expenditure in question was
for a particular religion only. All people, who have faith in Lord Vishnu’s
temple, belong to different sects and have faith in different religions and
also visit the temple of Lord Vishnu. The Revenue had not shown that entry in
the said temple was restricted to the persons of one particular community or
sect following one religion. Hinduism is not one particular religion and
different sects following Hindu philosophy do visit temple of Lord Vishnu, be
that Jains, Sikhs, Brahmins, etc. There is no watertight compartment between
different castes or sects following one particular religion. Freedom of
religion is guaranteed by the Constitution of India under Article 25.
Therefore, by taking such a pedantic and narrow approach, it could not be said
that character of the charitable trust was lost if one particular expenditure
was made for repairs and renovation of Lord Vishnu’s temple and that too by
way of contribution to another trust.
(iii) A perusal of the trust deed of the assessee produced
on record showed that the objective of the trust was clearly charitable one
and was not for any particular religion even wholly or substantially. Nothing
had been pointed out in the impugned order that the assessee had been
constantly spending money for a particular religion.
(iv) There was no leaning in favour of any particular
religion in the trust deed of the assessee-trust and, therefore, once such
exemption was granted to the assessee upon scrutiny of its application and it
held for at least three years, as was shown by the impugned order itself and
the trust deed indicated that the said trust was constituted long back on
27-8-1963 and had been carrying on such charitable activities, there was no
justification for rejecting its renewal u/s.80G, which is a matter of right.”
