LAXMINARAYAN MAHARAJ Vs. COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX

JUDGEMENT

(1.) PETITIONER No. 1, Shri Lakshminarayan Maharaj, Deity of Killa-Mandir, Durg, claims to be a public religious trust. PETITIONER No. 2 is the Sarbarakhar of this trust. The petitioner-trust made an application for registration of the trust under Section 12A of the I.T. Act, 1961. The petitioner's application was rejected by the Commissioner by order dated February 6, 1979, for non-compliance with Rule 17A of the I.T. Rules, 1962. It is this order which is challenged by the petitioners in this petition-under Article 226 of the Constitution.

(2.) THE petitioners' case is that the trust was created more than 100 years back but not under any instrument or document. Along with the application for registration, the petitioner-trust filed 10 documents. THEse documents are of three types : (i) revenue records relating to lands held by the trust, (ii) orders relating to assessment of property tax, and (iii) affidavits and declaration of citizens in support of the existence of the trust. THE Commissioner took the view that all these documents, though evidencing the existence of the trust, were not documents evidencing the creation of the trust and, therefore, the requirement of Rule 17A of the I.T. Rules, 1962, was not satisfied. It is the correctness of this view which has to be examined in this petition.

(3.) SECTION 12A was introduced with effect from April 1, 1973. It is not in dispute that the benefit of SECTIONs 11 and 12 were available to all charitable or religious trusts irrespective of whether they were created under an instrument or created otherwise. It is obvious that the intention behind SECTION 12A was not to take away the benefit available to the trusts which were created otherwise than under an instrument. It is in this background that Rule 17A has to be construed.