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Members of the Society and he was confronted with 'corpus donation' receipts and called upon to explain. In response, he specifically stated that the Society appeals for 'corpus donation' from parents during admission process and those parents who admitted their children to Sindhi Model Senior Secondary School, Kellys, Chennai, were paid 'corpus donation' of Rs.50,000/-,but said donation is not compulsory. He further stated that the Society is not collecting any donations for admission to Sindhi College of Arts & Science, Numbal, and Chennai. During the course of survey, it was further noticed that the Society is collecting uniform 'corpus donation' from parents of students admitted to Sindhi Model Senior Secondary School, Kellys, Chennai. Similarly, the Society has collected Development Fund (Corpus) from parents of students admitted to Sindhi Model Matriculation School, Chetpet, Chennai, ranging from Rs.1,500/- to Rs.15,000/- for different assessment years.
incidental services in terms of provisions of Sec.11(4) of the Act, but separate books of accounts are not maintained in violation of said provisions. Since, there is a violation of provisions of Sec.11 & 12 of the Act, the AO called upon the assessee to explain 'as to why' exemption claimed u/s.11 of the Act, should not be denied.
6. In response, the assessee submits that although, the Society has collected 'corpus donation' from parents of students admitted in Schools, but such donations are voluntary in nature. The Society makes an appeal to parents for donation for various development activities of the Society, including development of infrastructure facilities, for which, the parents invariably contribute donations for corpus of the Trust, but such donations are not in violation of the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Education Institutions (Prohibition of Collection of Capitation Fee) Act, 1992 & the Tamil Nadu Schools (Regulation of Collection of Fee) Act, 2009. The assessee further submitted that Sindhi Model Senior Secondary School, Kellys, Chennai, is affiliated to CBSE and is governed by state rules and as per section 3(3) of the Tamil Nadu Schools (Regulation of Collection of Fee) Act, 2009, the Government has not fixed any fees for Schools affiliated to CBSE, and further, the Schools are permitted to collect fees commensurate with the facilities provided by the School. In so far as Sindhi Model Matriculation School, Chetpet, Chennai, which is affiliated to State Board, the Society does not collect any excess fees as alleged during the course of survey. Further, the Society is maintaining its books ITA Nos.975 to 981/Chny/2022 :: 7 ::

ITA Nos.975 to 981/Chny/2022 :: 17 ::

15. The Ld. Counsel for the assessee Shri S.Sridhar, Adv., supporting the order of the Ld.CIT(A) submitted that the respondent is admittedly protected by the registration granted u/s.12AA of the Act. It is also an admitted fact that the respondent is running various Educational Institutions having more than 6000 students. The sole basis for rejection of Sec.11 benefit is survey conducted in the premise of the assessee, where, it was claimed that the assessee is collecting compulsory donations in lieu of admissions to Sindhi Model Senior Secondary School, Kellys, Chennai affiliated to CBSE and state board school Sindhi Model Matriculation School, Chetpet, Chennai. According to the AO, voluntary contributions received from parents of students forming part of corpus of the Society/Trust are non-voluntary/compulsory in nature. The AO had also observed that said donations are in contravention of provisions of the Tamil Nadu Education Institutions (Prohibition of Collection of Capitation Fee) Act, 1992 & the Tamil Nadu Schools (Regulation of Collection of Fee) Act, 2009, but fact remains that the Tamil Nadu Education Institutions (Prohibition of Collection of Capitation Fee) Act, 1992, is not applicable to the assessee at all, because, said enactment is applicable only to Educational Institution offering Degree and Diploma Courses. Further, the case law relied upon by the Ld. DR in the case of CIT v. MAC Public Charitable Trust, is also on the basis of the Tamil Nadu Education Institutions (Prohibition of Collection of Capitation Fee) Act, 1992, and thus, said judgment cannot be applied to the facts of the assessee case.

23. Coming back to observation of the AO with regard to development fund (corpus) received by the assessee from parents of students admitted ITA Nos.975 to 981/Chny/2022 :: 27 ::

to Sindhi Model Matriculation School, Chetpet, Chennai. Admittedly, Sindhi Model Matriculation School, Chetpet, Chennai, is recognized by State Government and offering state curriculum. The said school is governed by the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Schools (Regulation of Collection of Fee) Act, 2009, and there is no dispute. It is also an undisputed fact that the assessee has collected Development Fund ranging from Rs.1,500/- to Rs.15,000/- for various assessment years involved in this appeal. It is started collecting Rs.1,500/- in the year 2012-13, and has been raised to Rs.15,000/- for the FY 2017-18. The Development Fund received by the assessee is very small, and further, said Development Fund is not compulsory which is evident from the list of donations submitted by the assessee, where, it was noticed that in many cases, admission has been given without any donation. Further, the allegation of the AO that said donations are compulsory in nature is only on suspicion and surmise without there being any evidence to support his allegation, because, there is no iota of evidence with the AO, that any parents has lodged compliant with any authority for refusing to give admission without paying donation. Further, the allegation of the AO that the assessee has collected excess fess over and above fees prescribed under the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Schools (Regulation of Collection of Fee) Act, 2009, is also negated by the assessee by filing relevant details. From the details furnished by the assessee, we find that the AO has computed excess fees by taking into number of students and fees ITA Nos.975 to 981/Chny/2022 :: 28 ::