( 1 ) THE Income-tax Appellate Tribunal has referred the following question for our opinion :

"whether, on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the Tribunal is justified in holding that the income derived by the Radhaswami Satsang, a religious institution, is entitled to exemption under Sections 11 and 12 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 ?"

( 2 ) THE assessee is the Radhaswami Satsang, Agra. The faith, Radhaswami was founded by one sri Swami Shiv; Dayal Singh in 1869. According to the tenets of this faith the deity is represented on this earth by a human being who is called the Sant Satguru. The first Sant Satguru was Sri Shiv Dayal Singh, popularly known as " Swami Ji Maharaj". The second Sant Satguru (1878-1898) was Rai Bahadur Salig Ramanand ; he is popularly known as "hazoor Maharaj ". The third Sant Satguru (1898-1907) was Pandit Brahma Sankar Misra, popularly known as "maharaj Sahib". These first three gurus are regarded as the true exponents of the creed by all the followers of this faith. The Satsang which was started in the said manner grew in numbers and from the offerings made by the devotees to the Sant Satguru for the time being, the funds accumu