Income derived from property held under a legal obligation wholly for religious purposes is exempt from taxation under s. 4(3)(i) of the Indian IT Act, 1922, even if the endowment is not a private religious trust.

SINHA, J.

1. : THIS is a reference under s. 66(1) of the Indian IT Act. The facts which have given rise to this reference may be stated as follows :

2. BY a registered instrument of dedication dt. 7th Sept., 1861, Rani Kalyani dedicated certain immovable properties situate in Calcutta to the deity Sree Sree Iswar Gopal Jew which she had installed in the Cossipore House, in order to defray the expenses of the daily sheva and the periodical festivals of the said deity. The deed made provision for meeting the expenses of the sheva and puja of the deity out of the income of the dedicated properties and then went on to provide as follows : "During my lifetime I, in my capacity as shebait will remain in possession of the said debutter properties, subject to the conditions or trusts attached thereto and out of the income of the houses and bazar aforesaid, I will pay the rates and taxes and the costs of repairs of the houses, etc. and all other necessary expenses and apply the surplus income to the sheva or service etc. of the illustrious Thakoor." Provision was also made by the instrument for devolution of shebaitship. I ought to mention that Dr. Pal pointed out that the translation of the deed of dedication in so far as it used the word "trust" was not correct. He read the original Bangalee deed to us and it appeared that there was no word in the original which could be translated as "trust." Be that as it may, the deed has to be read as a whole and its construction is not affected even if the word "trust" occurred there.

The question arose whether the income of the properties of the deity held under the endowment was exempt from assessment to income-tax. The years of assessment were 1941-42, 1943-44 and 1945-46. The assessee was the said deity through Kumar Arun Chandra Singha as shebait. Before the ITO a claim was made on behalf of the assessee for total exemption under s. 4(3)(i) of the Indian IT Act. The ITO held that the purpose for which the endowment was created was strictly private and that the fact that a certain section of the public was allowed admission into the temple or to partake of the distribution of the Bhog offerings did not alter the private character of the endowment. He further held that the deity, as the owner of the income, was assessable to tax and not entitled to exemption. He assessed the tax for 1941-42 upon a total income of Rs. 51,700 under s. 23 (3) of the Act. On appeal to the AAC, various points were urged to which it is not now necessary to make reference. Suffice it to say that exemption was claimed on the footing that the properties were held under a "legal obligation wholly for religious purposes "within the meaning of s. 4(3)(i) of the Act. The AAC rejected that contention and observed as follows : "A perusal of the Arpannama shows that the properties were dedicated to the deity for the maintenance of the worship and for other religious purposes. The shebait holds the property as trustee for the spiritual benefit of Rani Kalyani's descendants. I hold it is a private religious trust." On appeal the Tribunal held that the deed created a private religious trust for the upkeep of the deity and as no part of the income of the trust enured for the benefit of the public, the assessee was not entitled to exemption from tax under the Act. The question which has been referred by the Tribunal is in these words :-- Whether on the facts and in the circumstances of the case and upon a proper construction of the deed (Arpannama) dt. 7th Sept., 1861, the income of the endowed property of Sree Sree Iswar Gopal Bigraha or any part thereof is exempt from taxation under the provisions of s. 4(3)(i) of the Indian IT Act, read with the explanation of that sub-section."

3. THE relevant exemption clause in s. 4 of the Act is in the following terms : "Sec. 4................................................... (3) Any income, profits or gains falling within the following classes shall not be included in the total in