Income Tax Appellate Tribunal - Chandigarh
Temple Trust Shree Bhagsu Nag, ... vs Cit(E), Chandigarh on 13 July, 2022
आयकर अपीलीय अिधकरण,च डीगढ़
अिधकरण च डीगढ़ यायपीठ ''बी.'', च डीगढ़
IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL, CHANDIGARH
BENCH 'B' CHANDIGARH
BEFORE: SMT. DIVA SINGH, JUDICIAL MEMBER &
SHRI VIKRAM SINGH YADAV, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER
आयकर अपील सं./ ITA No. 924/CHD/2018
(Order u/s 12AA)
Temple Trust, बनाम The CIT (Exemptions),
Shree Bhagsu Nag Temple, VS Chandigarh .
Bhagsu, Mecleodganj,
Dharamshala (HP).
थायी लेखा सं./PAN /TAN No: AABTT3951C
अपीलाथ /Appellant यथ /Respondent
ओर से/Assessee by : Shri Amitoz Singh Kamboj, CA
िनधा रती क
राज व कओर से/ Revenue by : Shri Sarabjeet Singh, CIT-DR
तारीख/Date of Hearing : 27.04.2022
उदघोषणा तारीख/Date of Pronouncement :
क 13.07.2022
आदेश/ORDER
PER DIVA SINGH The present appeal has bee n filed by the a sse ssee assailing the correctness of the order dated 26.04.201 8 of the CI T(E) Chandiga rh pass ed u/s 1 2AA of the Act on the foll owing gr ounds:
"1. That the learned CIT(E) has wrongly passed order u/s 12AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961 refusing the grant of registration 12AAto appellant trust which was formed mainly for charitable purpose i.e. basically carrying out religious activities.
2. That the learned CIT(E) has also erred by refusing registration u/s 12AA on irrelevant grounds & without bringing any material contrary on record in respect of genuineness of activities of appellant trust. Therefore, appellant trust may please be granted registration under section 12AA of the Act.
3. That in the facts and circumstances of the case, the learned CIT erred in not appreciating the genuineness of the objects and activities of the appellant trust and refusing registration u/s 12AA. Therefore, it is earnestly prayed before your goodself that registration under section 12AA may please be granted."
2. Th e he aring in t he present appeal took place on 01.02.202 2, 23.02.20 22 and 27.04.2022. Th e ld. AR has re que sted for a re mand back of the issue s for consideration afresh. I t has been ITA-924/CHD/2018 Page 2 of 16 argue d that the ld. CI T (E) on si mila r fa cts a nd cir cu mstances has granted Registration to M / s S h r i S h a n i D e v T e m p l e T r u s t vide order dated 26.09.2017. Re le vant docume nts at Pape r B ook page s 46-54 we re relied upon. Referring to the copy of the said order (page 46-47 A. Pa pe r Book), it w as sub mitted that the rein also, the very sa me CI T(E) ra ised si milar que stions as ad dressed in the impugned order e vidence d from pages 56-58 of t he Paper Book. Accordingly, it wa s his sub mission tha t a si mil ar order in the circumstance s could have bee n passed granting Re gistra tio n to the assessee and directing that ce rtain condition s sp elt out there in could be si milar ly followe d. Attention was i nvited to the reply ma de by the assesse e before the ld. C I T (E).
3. It was also his s ub mission that the issue was covered by the de cision in the case of S r i S e e t h a r a m a c h a n d r a S w a m y T e m p l e V s CIT (2016) 71 Taxmann.com 154 (Hyd-Trib).
4. Addre ssing the facts of the present case, it was submitted tha t he re in also the asse ssee temple was a cquired by the Government of Himachal P radesh as a char ita ble institution some time in M ay,2016 under the provisions of su b-se ction (1) of Se ction 29 of the H i m a c h a l Pradesh Hindu Public Religious Institution and Charitable Endowment Act, 1984. This fa ct, it wa s sub mitte d, has be en notice d by ld. CI T(E), howe ver, still Registration w as not gran te d.
ITA-924/CHD/2018 Page 3 of 16
4. Th e ld. CI T-DR considering the request pose d no objection to the re mand.
5. We have heard the riva l sub missions and p e ruse d the ma terial available on record. In the facts of the present ca se, admittedly the asse ssee Trust ha s not come into e xiste nce by way of a Trust Dee d. It is an ancient temple and its ad mi nistra tion in the public i ntere st has been taken ove r by the HP State Government. For the said purpose, the temple premises and prope rties a ppurtenant to it we re notifie d under the Act. We have see n that the asse ssee temple has been added to the list of the Te mple Trust (Sr .No. 21 of Sche dule-I of the H i m a c h a l P r a d e s h Hindu Public Religious Institution and Charitable Endowment Act, 1984 (Act No. 18 of 1984) vide Notification da ted 12.12.20 07. The said Noti fication, we have seen has been under the Se al and A uthority of Com mis sioner-cu m-S ecre tary to the Government of India (Act 18 of 1984) conveying the Executive plea sure of the Governor of Himachal P radesh of the said e ve nt. Docume nt to t his e ffect is a ppe nded a t Paper Book pages 2-3 and has been seen by the CI T( E) also. The original of the same is available at Pape r Book 5 and the English transla tion is at pages 2 and 3. Copy of Schedule I u/s 1(3) and Se ction 29 is a vailable at page 4 and the name of the asses se e temple is f ound me ntioned at Sl. No.21. Acc or dingly, the fa ct that there is no original Trus t De ed is not a relevant factor for consideration of th e ld. CI T(E).
ITA-924/CHD/2018 Page 4 of 16 5.1 We have a lso seen that vide order date d 01.07.2014 exe rcising the powers give n u/s 1 8(1)(2) of Chapter-5 of the Hind u Public Re lation Parlia ment & Settlement Act, 1984, the Office Bearers forming the mana geme nt of the temple has been constitu te d. Accordingly, we find that the argument tha t te mple trust was a cquir ed in May,2016 is not found supporte d by any document. The spe cific document dated 01.07.20 14 is availa ble at page 7, (English tra nslat ion thereof is at page 6). Th i s docu ment evidence s that th e Trust is constituted with i mme di ate e ffect:
ITA-924/CHD/2018 Page 5 of 16 Copy of the specific Act under which the affairs of the te mple Tr u s t h a v e b e e n t a k e n o v e r a r e a t P a p e r B o o k p a g e s 2 4 t o 4 4 . Th e a s s e s s e e i s d i r e c t e d t o a d d r e s s t h e s p e c i f i c d a t e o n w h i c h t h e Te m p l e Tr u s t w a s a c q u i r e d .
5.2 Addressing the similarity of alleged position with the temple appended at Sl.No. 33 to whom Registration has been granted vide order dated 26.09.2017 we propose to addre ss the documents before us. Our attention has been invited to the c o p y o f t h e o r d e r d a t e d 2 6 . 0 9 . 2 0 1 7 p a s s e d b y t h e l d . C I T( E ) stated to be in near similar facts and circumstance s where the administration of the specific temple was also take n over by the Himachal Pradesh Hindu Public Religious Institution and Charitable Endowment Act, 1984. For this purpose, attention has been invited to Paper Book page 48 which shows that on 04.03.2016, the said Sewa Bharati Shani Development Temple was adde d at Sr.No. 33 to Schedule-I under the said Act. We f i n d C o p y o f s i m i l a r q u e s t i o n s r a i s e d b y t h e C I T( E ) ' s o f f i c e i s appended at page 49 to 51 and the reply of that assessee at pages 52 to 54 attached there in has also been see n. We find ITA-924/CHD/2018 Page 6 of 16 t h a t t h e a c t i v i t y o f t h e s p e c i f i c S h a n i D e v Te m p l e h a s b e e n addressed in the following manner by the assessee :
I. To sell ration material on subsidized rates to the poor and needy people of the area. The ration is sold to any person irrespective of cast, creed & religion of the person on subsidized rates. II. To help the poor people of the area in extending financial help for the marriage of girls of the area.
III. To provide scholarships to the needy & poor students of the area. IV. To provide medical aid/ facility to the needy and poor people on demand.
V. To donate oil and ration to the Gow Shalas of the area at the rate of 10 Kg Ration and two liter Sarson Oil per cattle in one month or as decided in the meetings.
Vi. To undertake institution building and infra structure building measures which would lead to further expansion of temple and its activities.
(emphasis supplied) 5.3 Considering this, the Registration has been grante d to M/s Shri Shani Dev Temple Trust on 26.09.2017 holding as under:
ORDER U/S 12AA OF THE IT. ACT. 1961 An application in form 10A was e-filed by the Charitable Institution on 04.03.2017 for grant for registration u/s 12AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
2. The applicant has furnished the copy of the notification duly certified. It was examined with reference to objects of the Shri Shani Dev Temple Trust and genuineness of charitable activities.
3. Registration u/s 12AA is hereby granted to the applicant as a "Charitable Institution" on, inter alia, the following conditions:-
(i) If there is any change in the rules and bylaws of the applicant, the same may be intimated to this office immediately.
(ii) The applicant will not engage in any of the activities which are not covered u/s 2 (15) of I. T. Act, 1961.
(iii) The applicant will have to necessarily file the return of income u/s 139(4A) of IT Act before the due date in Form No. ITR. 7 alongwith the audit report.
4. If it comes to the notice at any stage that lire Applicant does not fulfill the conditions mentioned above or satisfies conditions contained in section 12AA(3), the approval granted through this order will be withdrawn as per the provision of the IT. Act. 1961.
5. The applicant shall apply at least 85% of the income derived from the property held by the applicant for charitable purpose during that year as per the condition laid down u/s 11(1) of IT. Act.
ITA-924/CHD/2018 Page 7 of 16 6 The applicant shall e-file Form No.10, as per tire proviso in Rule 12 of the IT. Rules 1962 before the due date for filing of Income Tax Return in case 85% of the income derived from the property held by the Applicant during that year was not applied for charitable purpose as per the condition laid down u/s 11(2) of IT. Act.
7. The applicant will invest its surplus as per the conditions laid down u/s 11(5) of IT Act.
8. The applicant will have to fulfill the FCRA requirements if any foreign donation is received by the applicant. The registration is liable to be cancelled at any point of time if it is found that FCRA requirements have been flouted
9. All the Public Money so received including for Corpus or any contribution shall be routed through a Bank Account and .such Bank Account Number shall be communicated to this office.
10. No asset shall be transferred without the knowledge of the undersigned to anyone, including to any applicant/applicant/non-profit company etc. 11 In the event of any change in (he composition and memorandum of the applicant the same shall be duly registered with the competent authority under the Applicant's Registration Act, 1860. The fact, thereafter, shall be conveyed to (he undersigned who reserves the right to examine afresh the need for continuation of the registration in the new circumstances.
12. It is emphasized that the registration under section 12AA doesn't preclude the applicant assessee from adhering to the basic requirements inherent in the related provisions of the Act. These requirements, it is reiterated, shall include inter alia filing of audit reports, adherence to the norms of utilization of income for the intended charitable purposes etc. This certificate does not give any exemptions to the applicant from Income Tax automatically. The Assessing Officer will examine the conditions for exemptions u/s 11, 12,12A (b) & 13 of the Act at the time of assessments.
13. The application was filed in financial year 2016-17 and as such the registration u/s 12AA will be applicable for assessment year 2017-18 and onwards until withdrawn by CTT (Exemptions), Chandigarh, The registration u/s I2AA has been entered at Serial No. 12A/AASTS3016N/ 1285 of the register of approval maintained in this office." 5.4 Attention has also been invited to the reply of the assessee made before the ld. CI T (E) wherein in the Note on Activity of t h e Te m p l e Tr u s t , f o l l o w i n g i n f o r m a t i o n h a s b e e n g i v e n :
5.) Note on Activity : The institution is of Charitable nature doing service to the society. The charitable activities undertaken/proposed to undertake are as under :
I. To sell ration material on subsidized rates to the poor and needy people of the area. The ration is sold to any person irrespective of cast, creed & religion of the person on subsidized rates.
ITA-924/CHD/2018 Page 8 of 16 II. To help the poor people of the area in extending financial help for the marriage of girls of the area.
III. To provide scholarships to the needy & poor students of the area. IV. To provide medical aid/ facility to the needy and poor people on demand. VI. To undertake institution building and infra structure building measures which would lead to further expansion of temple and its activities.
5.5 We f i nd t ha t in th e fa c ts of the p r e se nt ca s e , the i ss ue s wh i ch l a r ge ly p re v a ile d i n the mi nd of th e l d . CI T ( E) ha v e more or le ss be e n a dd r e s se d b y t he sp e ci f ic Ac t un d e r w hi ch the a nc ie nt te mp l e ha s b ee n a cq uir e d . B e f ore re fe r r i ng to the sp e ci f ic pr ov is i ons pr ov id e d by t he Hindu Public Religious I n s t i t u t i o n a n d C h a r i t a b l e E n d o w m e n t A c t , 1 9 8 4 , it i s ne ce ss a r y to b r i ng on r e cor d a s to w he re the c onf us ion ha s a r i se n . A pe r usa l of the r e c or d s how s tha t th e a s ses se e in ste a d of hi gh li gh ti ng b e f or e t he l d. C I T ( E ) th a t the i ss ue s p e r ta i n in g to the ob je cts of the a s se sse e te mp le a n d the B ye l a w s w e re d ir e c tl y a dd r e s se d by the Hindu Public Religious Institution and Charitable Endowment Act, 1984 and hence were already available on record, instead submitte d that these were under preparation. For ready reference, the issue as required to be addressed by the ld. CIT (E) and confusingly addressed in the impugned order are extracted for completeness as under :
"5. On the fixed date, Sh. Rajeev Sharma, C.A attended this office and filed the written submissions in response to the above noted queries. Counsel was also requested le the POA. After considering the submissions/ replies a query letter was issued on 18.04.2018. The same was also sent through email at carajeevl&gmail.com. with the request to provide details/clarification by 21.04.201S, and the applicant was given the leeway to reply through email at [email protected]. The contents of the letter are reproduced as under.-
ITA-924/CHD/2018 Page 9 of 16
(i) As the bye-laws are still being devised it is not clear how the applicant was created as a society, trust or section 25 company in 1997. This situation leads to presume that in the absence of bye- laws the applicant has been functioning unregulated. Provide rebuttal to the same along with documentary evidence.
(ii) You may also explain in the absence of defined objects/bye-laws of the applicant how are the expenses depicted in the Income & Expenditure Account are relatable to the claimed objects."
"7. On 23.04.2018 Sh. Rajeev Sharma, C.A , counsel for the applicant attended this office and filed written submissions in response to query letter dated 18.04.2018, after considering the reply, following issues emerges:-
(i) To the specific query how the applicant was created as society, trust or section 25 company when the bye laws were still being devised and why it should not be presumed that in the absence, of bye-laws the applicant has been functioning unregulated there was no direct response. The applicant merely stated that the trust is a government controlled institution wholly run by the government after the temple had been acquired by the government under the provision of Himachal Pradesh Hindu Public Religious Institution and Charitable Endowment Act 1984. In the present case applicant failed to explain how an entity (claiming itself to be charitable) gets covered under the categories of either a trust, society or section 25 company which have been judicially held to be covered u/s 11 & 12 of I T Act. It is pertinent to mention that separate provisions in the Income Tax Act, 1961 are available for the Authority/Board/ Body which seek their income to be exempted if they are established by an Act of Central or State Government with the object of regulating or administering any activity for the benefit of the general public. In the present the status of the applicant remains unverified.
Even though names of trustees have been furnished there is no trust deed per se. It is also not made out from the text of Endowments Act that allowed for takeover of the temple whether the action by the government imparts the character of a 'trust' upon the applicant. It is further pertinent to mention that even if all the contentions of the applicant are accepted, then also the entity doesn't get covered under the definition of 'person' as envisaged under section 2(31) of the I.T.Act, 1961.
(ii) As regard the conclusion how, in the absence of defined objects/bye-
laws of the applicant, the expenses depicted in Income & Expenditure Account are relatable to the claimed objects, the applicant again, instead of justifying its claim, merely reiterated its contention that it has been acquired by the Himachal Government under the provisions of section 29(1) of Himachal Pradesh Hindu Public Religious Institution and Charitable Endowments Act 1984 and the bye laws for administration of the properties/fund of the trust have been framed by the Government from time to time. By stating so, it is a reiteration of the self- confession that there are no defined objects/bye laws of the applicant. To that extent its expenditure could not be corroborated and genuineness of the activities could not be ascertained. It also can't be verified how the activities qualify as charitable in the manner envisaged in section 2(15) of the I.T.Act.
ITA-924/CHD/2018 Page 10 of 16
(iii) Further, in the present case, the funds of the entity which is neither a trust/society/section 25 company do not fall under any of the categories that qualify for coverage under section 11 & 12 of I.T. Act, 1961. The aforesaid sections clearly enunciate "income derived from 'voluntary contribution/corpus donation or income from property shall not be included in the total income of the previous year of the "person" in receipt of the income under the above note categories.
1. Keeping in view all these facts, it is safe to conclude that applicant is yet to acquire the legal status that would entitle it to the coverage u/s 11 & 12 of the l.T.Act, 1961. The claims of being a trust are not backed by any document registering it as such. The only fact that the temple has been taken over by the government under the ambit of Himachal Pradesh Hindu Public Religious Institution and Charitable Endownment Act 1984 doesn't entitle the entity to claim itself as a separate legal obligation. Therefore, 1 have no option but to deny the registration to the applicant u/ s 12AA of Income Tax Act,1961."
(emphasis supplied) 5.6 Accordingly, it is seen that possibly the confusion has been caused by the disjointed replie s of the assessee itself. Th e decision to acquire the te mple under the specific Act is on r e c o r d . Th e P a p e r B o o k p a g e 6 & 7 s h o w s t h a t a t l e a s t f r o m t h a t s p e c i f i c d a t e , i f n o t e a r l i e r , t h e M a n a g e m e n t o f t h e Te m p l e Tr u s t w a s c o n s t i t u t e d a s p e r t h e r e q u i r e m e n t o f t h e H i n d u Public Religious Institution and Charitable Endowment Act, 1984. Atleast from that date, the assets stood acquire d by the H.P. State Government. Th e o c c a s i o n f o r t h e Tr u s t t o f r a m e Bye-laws etc. consequently did not arise as the administration of the assessee temple trust was to be done in terms of the provisions of the Hindu Public Religious Institution and C h a r i t a b l e E n d o w m e n t A c t , 1 9 8 4 . Th e d o u b t s e n t e r t a i n e d b y t h e ld. C I T( E ) possibly caused by the disjointed replies of the a s s e s s e e , w e f i n d w e r e m i s f o u n d e d . Th e o b j e c t o f t h e Tr u s t i s ITA-924/CHD/2018 Page 11 of 16 evident from the aim and purpose of the Himachal Pradesh Hindu Public Religious I nstitution and Charitable Endowment Act, 1984 (he reinafter re ferred to as 'the Act') which has r e c e i v e d t h e a s s e n t H o n ' b l e G o v e r n o r . Th e P r e a m b l e o f t h e A c t w h i c h c l e a r l y s t a t e s t h a t i t i s a n A c t t o p r o v i d e f o r b e t te r administration of Hindu Public Religious In s t i t u t i o n s and C h a r i t a b l e E n d o wm e n t a n d f o r th e p r o t e c t i o n a n d p r e s e r v a t i o n o f p r o p e r t i e s a p p u r te n a n t t o s u c h I n s t i t u t i o n s a n d E n d o wm e n t s . When the specific Scheme of the Act is seen, it is evident that t h e r e i s n o o c c a s i o n w h a t s o e v e r f o r t h e a s s e s s e e Tr u s t t o m a k e any Bye laws etc. for its internal functioning. The Management of the assessee Tr u s t has been taken over to fulfill the charitable activitie s in terms of the Preamble. As per the Note on Activity appende d on behalf of the assessee Trust, it is seen that these are directly covered by the State Administration. Th e l i m i t e d r o l e o f t h e a s s e s s e e Tr u s t i s t h a t o n t h e c u s t o m s , c e r e m o n i e s a n d h i s t o r y o f t h e a n c i e n t Tr u s t e t c . , t h e s e a r e t o be se t out in the registers by the Management of the assessee Tr u s t . However, as far as the aspects of the appointments of the Office Bearers, their remunerations, their responsibilities in maintaining necessary details and registers and pe naltie s for violation of these statutory conditions, have all been elaborately set out by the Act. It is seen that Chapter I of the Hindu Public Religious Institution and Charitable Endowment ITA-924/CHD/2018 Page 12 of 16 Act, 1984 contains the definition clause and Chapter II governs the Appointment, Powers, functions etc. of the Commissioner a n d s t a f f f o r t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f t h e t e m p l e Tr u s t ; C h a p t e r I I I thereof has stringent Rules for preparation and maintenance of Registers by the religious institution. Th e p r o v i s i o n s c l e a r l y re quire that u/s 6 of the Act, not only the origin and history of t h e I n s t i t u t i o n b u t a l s o n a m e s o f t h e p a s t a n d p r e s e n t Tr u s t e e s are to be diligently maintained. Th e Section requires the particulars of the Scheme of Administration etc.; names of all office rs to whom any salary, emoluments e tc. are paid; details of all monies, jewellery, movable and immovable properties of the temple to be maintained. Th e Registers re quired to be maintaine d as per the stringent statutory procedures set out which are monitored and subjected to for the scrutiny and annual verification e tc. We have seen that Se ctions 8 to 16 set out in Chapter-IV of the said Act lays down stringent r e q u i r e m e n t w h i c h t h e Tr u s t e e s a r e r e q u i r e d t o f u l f i l l i n t h e p e r f o r m a n c e o f t h e i r d u t i e s . Th e p r o v i s i o n s c l e a r l y c i r c u m s c r i b e t h e p o w e r s u n d e r t h e A c t a n d a l s o r e q u i r e s t h e Tr u s t e e s t o furnish accounts, returns etc. to the Commissioner of such accounts or any other returns, reports, information required in r e l a t i o n t o t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f t h e Tr u s t . I t i s s e e n t h a t t h e premises and documents are open to inspection of property and documents by the Commissioner. Alienation of immovable ITA-924/CHD/2018 Page 13 of 16 propertie s, powers to recover movable property unlawfully, alienated and powers to address removal of encroachment etc. o f l a n d a n d p o w e r s t o p r o t e c t t h e p r o p e r t i e s o f t h e t e m p l e Tr u s t all stands addre ssed therein. Chapter-V of the Act vide Sections 18 to 21 addresses the appointment and removal of Tr u s t e e s , Pujaries and filling of vacancies arising etc. Maintaining of accounts has been elaborately addressed in C h a p t e r V I b y S e c t i o n s 2 2 a n d 2 3 . Th e v i o l a t i o n / w i l l f u l r e f u s a l to comply with the provisions of the Act are addressed in Chapter VII. Sections 24 & 25 lays down the penalties and offences by way of fine or imprisonment to be visited upon the Tr u s t e e s , o f f i c e r s , p u j a r i s , a g e n t o r a n y o t h e r p e r s o n w h o i s found wanting in his actions towards the administration of the Tr u s t . C h a p t e r V I I I i s m i s c e l l a n e o u s . Th u s , i t i s e v i d e n t t h a t t h e a c t i v i t i e s o f t h e Tr u s t a r e d i r e c t l y u n d e r t h e a c t i v e c o n t r o l a n d s u p e r v i s i o n o f C o m m i s s i o n e r a n d Te m p l e C o l l e c t o r , K a n g r a . Th e d i r e c t c o n t r o l a n d s u p e r v i s i o n o f t h e G o v e r n m e n t i s e v i d e n t from Section 27 and 28 which read as under :
27. Power to give directions.- The Government may, from time to time, give such general or specific directions, in writing, to the Commissioner for the effective implementation of the provisions of this Act and while so doing may rescind, alter or modify any order made by the Commissioner and the Commissioner shall follow them in the discharge of his duties.
28. Power of State Government to review .- The State Government may, suo-
motu or on an application moved by any person considering himself aggrieved from any order or decision of the Financial Commissioner made under this Act, review such order or decision and make such order thereon as it thinks fit:
Provided that, before any order is made under this section, the State Government, shall afford to any person likely to be affected adversely by such order, an opportunity of being heard.
ITA-924/CHD/2018 Page 14 of 16 5.7 Accordingly, when the provisions of the Himachal Pradesh Hindu Public Religious I nstitution and Charitable Endowment Act, 1984 vide which the specific Te m p l e Trust has been acquired, is taken into consideration, we find that the reply of the assessee made on the IT Portal taken into consideration vide para 5 of the impugned order, we find is possibly an act of confusion on the part of the assessee.
5.8 On account of this confusion cause d by the assessee, we find possibly ld. CI T (E) misdirected himself. I n the facts of the p r e s e n t c a s e a l s o , a d m i t t e d l y t h e m a n a g e m e n t o f t h e Te m p l e Tr u s t w a s e x c l u s i v e l y i n t h e h a n d s o f t h e S t a t e A d m i n i s t r a t i o n like that of Shri Shani Dev Temple Trust. Th e a i m s a n d purposes which were sought to be fulfilled as per the aforesaid N o t e a l s o f o r w a r d e d o n t h e I TB A P o r t a l a v a i l a b l e a t p a g e s 5 9 t o 61 shows that in the facts of the present case, these were identical to Shri Shani Dev Temple Trust. As per record for the asse sse e, the se we re :
5 . Note on Activity :The institution is of Charitable nature doing service to the society. The charitable activities undertaken/proposed to undertake are as under :
I To sell ration material on subsidized rates to the poor and needy people of the area. The ration is sold to any person irrespective of cast, creed & religion of the person on subsidized rates.
II. To help the poor people of the area in extending financial help for the marriage of girls of the area.
III. To provide scholarships to the needy & poor students of the area. IV. To provide medical aid/ facility to the needy and poor people on demand.
ITA-924/CHD/2018 Page 15 of 16 V. To undertake institution building and infra structure building measures which would lead to further expansion of temple and its activities.
(emphasis supplied) 5.9 When we find the above Note available on record in the case of the assessee and it is seen that on the Note on Activity from Sr.No. I to IV of the specific assessee is seen vis-à-vis the activities of the Shri Shani Dev Temple Trust at Sr. No. I to IV (extracted in para 5.2 of this order) it is seen that these are ad idem. Accordingly, we find that as far as the activity of the p r e s e n t a s s e s s e e Tr u s t i s c o n c e r n e d , t h e s e a r e i d e n t i c a l t o t h e Shri Shani Dev Temple Trust wherein Registration u/s 12AA has been granted by the CI T (E). We have also seen that like the Shri Shani Dev Temple Trust the pre sent assessee has also been acquired under the Himachal Pradesh Hindu Public Religious Institution and Charitable Endowment Act, 1984 at Sr.No. 33 vide Notification dated 04.03.2016. Th e p r e s e n t a s s e s s e e h a s been included in the list vide Notification dated 12.12.1997.
Th e p r o p e r t i e s o f t h e a s s e s s e e Tr u s t a t l e a s t a s o n 0 1 . 0 7 . 2 0 1 4 stood acquired by the State Administration as the Manageme nt of the assessee Trust as from this date was constituted in terms of the Himachal Pradesh Hindu Public Religious Institution and Charitable Endowment Act, 1984. Accordingly, there is no d o u b t t h a t t h e Te m p l e Tr u s t a d m i t t e d l y h a s b e e n a c q u i r e d b y the State Government. For establishing the date of acquisition, no specific document has been placed by the assessee on re cord. Th e s a i d d a t e m a y b e v e r i f i e d . Accordingly, for this ITA-924/CHD/2018 Page 16 of 16 limited purpose, the issue is remanded directing the ld. CI T (E) t o g r a n t r e g i s t r a t i o n t o t h e a s s e s s e e Tr u s t . S a i d o r d e r w a s pronounced in the Open Court at the time of hearing itse lf.
6. In the result, the appeal of the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes.
O r de r p r on oun ce d on 1 3 t h Jul y, 2 0 22 .
Sd/- Sd/- (VIKRAM SINGH YADAV) (DIVA SINGH) लेखा सद य/ Accountant Member याियक सद य/ Judicial Member "Poonam"
आदेश क ितिलिप अ ेिषत/ Copy of the order forwarded to :
2. अपीलाथ / The Appellant
3. यथ / The Respondent
4. आयकर आयु / CIT
5. आयकर आयु (अपील)/ The CIT(A)
6. िवभागीय ितिनिध, आयकर अपीलीय आिधकरण, च डीगढ़/ DR, ITAT, CHANDIGARH
7. गाड फाईल/ Guard File आदेशानुसार/ By order सहायक पंजीकार/ Assistant Registrar,