The assessee, a company registered under s. 25 of the Companies Act applied for registration as a charitable institution u/s 12A of the I. T. Act. The Director (Exemptions), relying on Bhraman Madhav Murthi Mandal vs Joint Charity Commissioner 43 Comp Cas 361 (Bom), rejected the application on the ground that registration with the Charity Commissioner was a condition precedent for registration u/s 12A and that registration could not be granted for failure to produce the Charity Commissioner™s certificate. On appeal by the assessee, HELD allowing the appeal:
In Bhraman Madhav Murthi Mandal vs Joint Charity Commissioner, the Court dealt with the issue whether a company holding property for public religious and charitable purposes is required to be registered under the Public Trust Act. This does not mean that registration as a public trust is a condition precedent for grant of registration u/s 12A. There is no requirement in the Income-tax Act that the institution constituted for advancement of charity, must be registered as a trust under the Public Trusts Act (Agriculture Produce and Market Committee 291 ITR 419 (Bom) & Disha India Micro Credit (Del) followed)
