- (1.) The petitioner is a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 vide Registration No. 545 of 199091, dt. 3rd Sept., 1990. It is running a co-educational degree college in the name and style of Ch. Natthu Singh Yadav Mahavidyalaya Dihuli Barnahal, Karhal, Mainpuri. It is stated that the college is located in a backward area and is imparting education to boys and girls by charging a very nominal fees. Fee is being charged to meet out the running cost and surplus is being used for developing necessary infrastructure to promote education. It has further been claimed that the institution is providing fee concession to poor, handicapped and disabled students while no fee is being charged from SC and ST students. The petitioner society is registered with the IT Department having PAN AABTN2289D. It made an application in prescribed form for approval under s. 10(23C)(vi) of the IT Act for asst. yr. 2009-10 onwards. The said application has been rejected by impugned order dt. 31st Aug., 2010 passed by the Chief CIT, Ghaziabad on following grounds: (A) The approval under s. 10(23C)(vi) of the Act is available only to an educational institution existing solely for the educational purposes while the memorandum of the society stipulates other objects as well. (B) The application for exemption of the income-tax should have been filed by the educational institution while the application in the instant case has been made by the society. (C) The aims and objects of the society provides for free education but the income and expenditure account filed along with the application shows that the institution has been charging fees and which is against the objects of the society.
(2.) Challenging the said order, petitioner has come up in writ petition before this Court.
(3.) We have heard Sri Ashish Bansal, advocate for the petitioner and Sri Shambhu Chopra, learned counsel appearing for the Department.;