- (1.) It is the case of the Petitioner that Jharia Marwari Sammelan Trust is a Public Charitable Trust registered under the Trust Act and is also registered as a Public Charitable Trust under Section 12AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961. One of the objects of the trust is to establish schools, particularly for girls to impart education to them. With such an object a school for the girls (Petitioner) in the name of Balika Vidya Mandir was established in the year 1961. The income generated by running such school is spent exclusively for the development of the school only and no part of it is being utilized for any other purposes.
(2.) Further case is that in the year 1997, the Trust constructed a new building for the school at Hethli Bandh, Jharia in which electric connection in the domestic service category with connected load of 1 K.W was given by the Electricity Board. From 1997 to July, 2001, electricity charges were charged in accordance with the domestic tariff of 1993 which is admissible to a recognized charitable institution. However, on 24.8.2001 some authority of the Electricity Board made an inspection of the school to ascertain its connected load and on inspection, the connected load allegedly was found to be of about 13 K.W as against the sanctioned connected load of 1 K.W. Accordingly, electric bill for August, 2001 was issued charging the rate applicable to commercial tariff and also on the basis of connected load taken to be as 13 K.W. Immediately thereafter a notice of disconnection was served which was challenged before this Court by filing a writ petition taking a plea that commercial service tariff is not applicable in a case of Petitioner school as it is being run by a charitable trust for achieving the purpose of the trust. The said writ application bearing W.P.(C) No. 5510 of 2001 was disposed of by directing the Petitioner to file a representation before the Electrical Executive Engineer, Jharia raising all its grievances which were raised in the writ application. Pursuant to that, the Petitioner filed a representation on 10.6.2002. When the date was fixed as 10.7.2002, the Petitioner appeared through its representative and filed a copy of the Trust Deed and also the document showing registration of the trust under the Income Tax Act. On that day the argument concluded and when no order was passed within a reasonable period, the Petitioner filed several applications and even a legal notice was sent to seek information as to whether any order has been passed or not. Ultimately, it was communicated that an order has been passed on 30.11.2002 whereby it was recorded that as the school is charging development fee, the bill has rightly been issued by applying commercial services tariff. The said order through interlocutory application was challenged to be bad.
(3.) Mr.L.K. Bajla, learned Counsel appearing for the Petitioner submitted that the ground on which applicability of domestic tariff has been denied is not at all tenable as charging of development fee by school will never denude the school from the status of a charitable institution as income of the school is utilized only for the purpose of development of the school and not by any other purposes and, therefore, charging of development fee from the students is incidental or ancillary to the primary object of imparting education to the children.;