THE LIFE ETERNAL TRUST,PUNE V. COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX (EXEMPTION),PUNE, PUNE

ITA 447/PUN/2025

AI Insights

The case involves The Life Eternal Trust, which appealed against the decision of the CIT, Exemption, Pune, rejecting their application for registration under section 80G(5) of the IT Act. The primary contention was regarding the classification of certain expenses as 'pooja expenses', which the CIT found to be religious in nature and exceeding 5% of the total income, thus violating the provisions of section 80G(5). The Trust argued that these expenses were misclassified due to an accountant's error and were actually related to Sahaj Yoga, a non-religious practice. The Tribunal found merit in the Trust's argument and remanded the case for a fresh evaluation.

• Counselvise Citation: [2025] 140 COUNSELVISE.COM (IT) 793153 (ITAT-PUNE)
• Duration Of Justice: 7 month(s) 6 day(s)
• Appeal Type: Income Tax Appeal
• Pronouncement Date: 26-09-2025
• Appeal Filed By: Assessee
• Order Result: Allowed
• Bench Allotted: B
• Assessment Year: misc
• Appeal Filed On: 19-02-2025
• Laws Referred To: Income Tax Act
• Result in Favour of: Assessee
• Court: TRIBUNAL
• Department Lawyers: AMIT BOBDE
• Assessee Lawyers: SHARAD A. SHAH
• Keywords: Additional evidence
• Section: 80G

Judgement Text

"IN THE INCOME TAX APPELLATE TRIBUNAL PUNE BENCH “B”, PUNE BEFORE SHRI MANISH BORAD, ACCOUNTANT MEMBER AND SHRI VINAY BHAMORE, JUDICIAL MEMBER आयकर अपील सं. / ITA No.447/PUN/2025 The Life Eternal Trust, Plot No.79, Sr. No.98, Right Bhusari Colony, Behind Lohiya Jain IT Park, Kothrud, Pune- 411028. PAN : AACTT4211E Vs. CIT, Exemption, Pune. Appellant Respondent आदेश / ORDER PER VINAY BHAMORE, JM: This appeal filed by the assessee is directed against the order dated 21.12.2024 passed by Ld. CIT, Exemption, Pune rejecting the application for registration u/s 80G(5) of the IT Act. 2. Facts of the case, in brief, are, that the assessee filed its application for registration in Form No.10AB under clause (iii) of first proviso to sub-section (5) of section 80G of the IT Act on 29.06.2024. With a view to verify the genuineness of activities of the assessee and fulfillment of conditions laid down in clauses (i) to (v) of section 80G(5) of the IT Act, a notice was issued through Assessee by : Shri Sharad A. Shah Revenue by : Shri Amit Bobde Date of hearing : 17.09.2025 Date of pronouncement : 26.09.2025 Printed from counselvise.com ITA No.447/PUN/2025 2 ITBA portal on 08.08.2024 requesting the assessee to upload certain information/clarification on or before 22.08.2024. In reply to the said notice, the desired information was furnished by the assessee. On verification of the information furnished by the assessee, Ld. CIT, Exemption, Pune found certain discrepancies, therefore, issued another notice on 28.11.2024 and asked the assessee to furnish various other details and also to clarify that the pooja expenses which are religious in nature debited in the account are in excess of 5% of total income of the assessee. The assessee replied that these are not pooja expenses but are related with Sahaj Yoga, a meditation practice taught by Shree Nirmala Devi which is non-religious in nature and beneficial to the public at large. Not being satisfied with the explanation furnished by the assessee, Ld. CIT, Exemption, Pune rejected the application filed by the assessee by observing as under :- “6. The assessee furnished its response on 10/12/2024. The trust has contended that its primary objective is to promote Sahaja Yoga, a meditation practice based on effortless techniques as taught by Shri Nirmala Devi, and that its activities are non-religious in nature, inclusive, and beneficial to the public at large. It has further argued that certain activities are colloquially termed as \"Pooja\" for public understanding but do not involve worship of specific deities or religious practices, emphasizing that these activities aim to promote spiritual knowledge and Sahaja Yoga practices. The trust has also submitted lists of beneficiaries and asserted that its activities are accessible to all without discrimination based on religion, caste, gender, age, or community. However, on verification of the bills and invoices submitted by the trust, it is evident that the expenditure claimed to be for Sahaja Yoga practices includes multiple instances of Printed from counselvise.com ITA No.447/PUN/2025 3 expenses explicitly categorized as religious. These include expenses towards events such as \"Mahashivratri Pooja,\" \"Shree Krishna Pooja,\" \"Shree Ganesh Pooja,\" and \"Shree Durga Pooja,\" among others. These expenditures directly contradict the trust's claim that its activities are non-religious and unrelated to the worship of specific deities. The nature of these expenses, as described in the bills and invoices, indicates that they are inherently religious in character, undermining the trust's contention that its activities are secular and aimed solely at advancing Sahaja Yoga practices. Further, the financial statements of the trust reveal a distinct classification of expenses into \"Pooja expenses\" and \"Charity expenses.\" The presence of a separate category for \"Pooja expenses\" highlights that a significant portion of the trust's expenditure is allocated to activities explicitly identified as religious. In fact, it has been observed that the expenditure on pooja expenses are more than on the charity expenses. This categorization not only contradicts the trust's claims of non-religious objectives but also raises concerns about the alignment of its activities with its stated objects. 6.1 Moreover, the emphasis on religious expenditures violates the provisions of section 80G(58) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, which explicitly disallows deductions under section 80G for any trust or institution that spends more than 5% of its total income on religious activities. It has been observed that during FYs 2022-23 and 2023-24, the trust has received income of Rs. 38.54 Lakhs and Rs. 12.13 Lakhs respectively. Against the same, it has spent on pooja expenses Rs. 25.90 lakhs and Rs. 2.34 Lakhs which amounts to 67.20% and 19.29% respectively. Thus, the trust's financial statements and supporting documents demonstrate that the expenditure on religious activities far exceeds the permissible limit, further substantiating the conclusion that the trust has failed to adhere to the statutory requirements for claiming exemption under section 80G. 7. Considering the above facts discussed in the show notice and discrepancies noticed, the undersigned is not satisfied about the fulfillment of conditions laid down in clause (i) to (v) of section 80G(5) of the Act. 8. In view of the above, the application filed by the assessee is hereby rejected and the provisional approval granted on 23/09/2021 under clause (iv) for first proviso to section 80G(5) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 is hereby cancelled.” 3. It is the above order against which the assessee is in appeal before this Tribunal. Printed from counselvise.com ITA No.447/PUN/2025 4 4. Ld. AR appearing from side of the assessee submitted before us that the order passed by Ld. CIT, Exemption, Pune is not justified. Ld. AR submitted that the expenditure debited in the name of pooja expenses are not wholly and exclusively related with pooja/religious activities though debited under the head ‘pooja expenses’. Ld. AR further submitted that due to mistake of the accountant various other expenses got clubbed with pooja expenses and were accounted for under the head ‘pooja expenses’. In support of this contention, Ld. AR furnished an application for admission of additional evidences wherein certain photographs regarding Sahaj Yoga and detailed financial statements with bifurcation of expenditure were furnished. Accordingly, Ld. AR requested before the Bench to direct Ld. CIT, Exemption, Pune to grant application for approval u/s 80G(5) of the IT Act on the basis of additional evidences furnished before the Bench. 5. Ld. DR appearing from side of the Revenue relied on the order passed Ld. CIT, Exemption, Pune, & requested to confirm the same. 6. We have heard Ld. Counsels from both the sides and perused the material available on record including additional evidences furnished before this Bench. In this regard, we find that admittedly various expenses were clubbed under the head ‘pooja expenses’ Printed from counselvise.com ITA No.447/PUN/2025 5 which exceeded more than 5% of total income of the assessee and therefore, Ld. CIT, Exemption, Pune rejected the application for approval u/s 80G(5) of the IT Act. In this regard, it was contended before the Bench that all the expenditure which was debited under the head ‘pooja expenses’ does not pertain to pooja/religious expenses. It was clarified by Ld. Counsel of the assessee that due to mistake of data entry by the accountant most of the expenses though not related with pooja expenses were debited under the head ‘pooja expenses’ and consequently Ld. CIT, Exemption, Pune found that the pooja expenses are in excess of 5% of total income of the assessee and therefore the application for approval u/s 80G(5) of the IT Act was rejected. Before us, Ld. AR produced detailed financial statements and bifurcation of expenditure which were debited under the head ‘pooja expenses’. Since these details were not furnished before Ld. CIT, Exemption, Pune and furnished before this Bench for the first time, we deem it appropriate to set-aside the order passed by Ld. CIT, Exemption, Pune and remand the matter back to him with a direction to decide the application for approval u/s 80G(5) of the IT Act afresh as per fact and law as well as after considering additional evidences furnished by the assessee and also after providing reasonable opportunity of hearing to the assessee. Printed from counselvise.com ITA No.447/PUN/2025 6 The assessee is also hereby directed to comply with the notices issued by Ld. CIT, Exemption, Pune and produce the additional evidences/requisite documents/information/explanation in support of the application for approval u/s 80G(5) of the IT Act without taking any adjournment under any pretext, otherwise Ld. CIT, Exemption, Pune shall be at liberty to pass appropriate order as per law. Thus, the grounds of appeal raised by the assessee are allowed for statistical purposes. 7. In the result, the appeal filed by the assessee is allowed for statistical purposes. Order pronounced on this 26th day of September, 2025. Sd/- Sd/- (MANISH BORAD) (VINAY BHAMORE) ACCOUNTANT MEMBER JUDICIAL MEMBER पुणे / Pune; ᳰदनांक / Dated : 26th September, 2025. Sujeet आदेश कᳱ ᮧितिलिप अᮕेिषत / Copy of the Order forwarded to : 1. अपीलाथᱮ / The Appellant. 2. ᮧ᭜यथᱮ / The Respondent. 3. The CIT, Exemption, Pune. 4. The Pr. CIT/CIT concerned. 5. िवभागीय ᮧितिनिध, आयकर अपीलीय अिधकरण, “B” बᱶच, पुणे / DR, ITAT, “B” Bench, Pune. 6. गाडᭅ फ़ाइल / Guard File. आदेशानुसार / BY ORDER, // True Copy // Senior Private Secretary आयकर अपीलीय अिधकरण, पुणे / ITAT, Pune. Printed from counselvise.com "