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According to the learned CIT, objects 3 and 4 above were religious objects and there was an infringement of the provisions of section 80G(5)(iii) of the Income- tax Act, 1961. He, therefore, required the assessee to show cause as to why its application for grant of certificate u/s 80G for further extension should not be rejected. In reply, it was stated by the assessee that it has been duly registered u/s 12AA and was earlier granted exemption u/s 80G(5) till 31st March, 2009. It was submitted that the objects of the trust are continued to be the same and there is no change therein. It was further stated that the objects of the trust are charitable in nature within the meaning of section 2(15) and the same are of general public utility. It was submitted that what is required is that the section of the public who are beneficiaries must be well defined and identified. It was submitted that the objects of the trust comply with this requirement and there is also no dispute as to the genuineness of the activities conducted by the trust which runs several schools in the villages and backward areas of the district. It was submitted that the students of the said schools are from all castes and creed irrespective of any particular religion. It was also submitted that the primary and dominant purpose of the trust is charitable and other objects are merely ancillary or incidental to the primary object. It was contended that the assessee trust thus is entitled for renewal of certificate granted earlier u/s 80G(5). In support of this contention, reliance was placed by the assessee on the following judicial pronouncements :

Aggrieved by the order of learned CIT, the assessee has preferred this appeal before the Tribunal.

4. The learned counsel for the assessee, at the outset, invited our attention to the copy of letter dated 10-07-2007 issued by the learned CIT-II, Thane granting registration to the assessee trust u/s 12A with effect from 01-04-2006. He submitted that the registration so granted to the assessee trust has not been withdrawn till date. He then took us through the objects of the assessee trust to point out that the predominant purpose of the assessee trust is to provide education facilities and runs schools which are open to all the students. He submitted that with the same objects, the assessee trust was granted certificate u/s 80G(5) by the learned CIT-II, Thane upto 31-03-2009 but further extension of the said certificate beyond 31-03-2009 has been denied without there being any change in the objects. He then took us through the annual accounts of the assessee trust for four years ending 31-03-2006, 31-03-2007, 31-03-2008 and 31-03-2009 to show that majority of the funds were utilized by it for providing educational facilities to students belonging to all the religions. He contended that the predominant objects of the assessee trust thus is purely of a charitable nature and the learned CIT was not justified in rejecting the application of the trust for certificate u/s 80G(5) merely because some of the objects of the trust were meant to provide advantage to a particular religious community viz. Muslim community. He contended that the word "Muslim" by itself does not signify any religion and it is just an identification of a group of people. Relying on the decision of Hon'ble Gujarat High Court in the case of Hiralal Bhagwat vs. CIT 246 ITR 188, he contended that object beneficial to a section of public is an object of "general public utility". He also relied on the decision of coordinate bench of this Tribunal in the case of Muslim Bazm E- Ittihad-O-Tarraqq vs. CIT-II, Thane rendered vide an order dated 10th December, 2008 in ITA No. 5026/Mum/07 and submitted that the objects of the assessee trust in the said case were held to be for charitable purpose inspite of the fact that the same were for the benefit of Muslims.