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1.  Alexandra School Vs. Commissioner of Income Tax, ITA No. 329 of 2013, Date of Order: 26.02.2014, ITAT – Amritsar

Whether registration u/s 12 AA will be denied, if the object of the trust would be to impart education to children of particular community.

Held Yes

The Commissioner has given adequate opportunity to the assessee-trust for establishing its case for grant of registration under section 12AA but the assessee-trust, in its reply dated 25-4-2013, mainly contended that the school is run by members of the Christian Society, and it is totally secular and deals with only education without any reservation of religion, caste and creed. On perusal of the PURPOSE of this association, it is clear that the purpose of this Association is to run and manage the Schools, for the purpose of imparting education primary to children of Christian Minority Community, for which it was founded that is to provide a sound education on a "Christian" basis to every girl/boy who voluntarily joins the Schools, in Christian atmosphere of love and service to all, regardless of caste, creed, colour, or distinction of any kind in order to produce enlightened and responsible citizens for India.

In the present case, it is very much clear from the purpose of the assessee-trust that the assessee-trust had been formed to impart education primary to children of Christian Minority Community, Secondly, the main objective of the society-trust was to provide quality education in the Christian environment, which is also contrary to the law.

The entire administration of the assessee-trust was controlled by Christian people. No outsider has been engaged in the administration of the assessee-school, meaning thereby, that assessee-school had been created only for the benefit of particular religious community. Therefore, Commissioner vide impugned order dated 26-4-2012 has rightly rejected the application filed by the assessee for grant of registration under section 12AA.

(Please click here for judgment)

2.  A.T. Kearney India Pvt. Ltd. Vs. Income Tax Officer, W.P.(C) 1937/2014, Date of Order: 28.03.2014, Delhi High Court

Overreach of the interim order of the Tribunal granting stay for recovery,  is the contempt of ITAT order

Held:

The income tax authorities were represented by the CIT-DR, before the Tribunal. The order on the stay application was also pronounced in open Court on that date. In these circumstances, the submission of the revenue that the concerned AO was not intimated cannot be accepted. If such an argument was made before this Court, where orders are pronounced in Court in the presence of counsel, it would certainly not be accepted, and in fact would be seriously viewed. In the facts of this case, it clearly amounts to overreach of the interim order of the Tribunal; in a similar situation, this Court itself would possibly be initiating contempt proceedings. In these circumstances, the Court is of the opinion that the respondent should lift the attachment and ensure that the amounts recovered are deposited back in the petitioner’s account within a week from today. A copy of the present order shall be marked to the Central Board of Direct Taxes separately and communicated.

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