LAXMINARAIN LATH TRUST Vs. COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN this reference, which relates to the assessment year 1972-73, the INcome-tax Appellate Tribunal, Jaipur Bench, Jaipur (hereinafter referred to as " the Tribunal"), has referred the following questions for the opinion of this court:

(2.) WHETHER, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal was justified in holding that the assessee-trust is not entitled to exemption under Section 11 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 ? "

(3.) DURING the course of his arguments, Shri Ranka has urged that the earlier decision of this court in Lakshmi Narain Lath Trust v. CIT, 1969 73 ITR 402, given in relation to the assessment years 1954-55 to 1957-58 is no longer good law in view of the subsequent decisions of the Supreme Court and that even if the supplementary deed executed on May 21, 1958, is excluded from consideration, the income of the assessee is entitled to exemption under Section 11 of the 1961 Act. Shri Ranka has urged that in order to determine whether a trust is a trust for charitable purposes, the test to be applied is to ascertain the dominant or primary purpose of the trust, and that if the dominant or primary purpose of the trust is charitable in nature, then even if some of the purposes are not charitable in nature, it would not alter the nature of the trust. In support of his aforesaid submission, Shri Ranka has placed reliance on the decisions of the Supreme Court in Addl. CIT v. Surat Art Silk Cloth Manufacturers Association, 1980 121 ITR 1, CIT v. Bar Council of Maharashtra, 1981 130 ITR 28 and CIT v. Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry, 1981 130 ITR 186.