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TMI Blog1983 (9) TMI 137X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ces. He had also declared interest on deposits in bank to the extent of Rs. 6,000. After deductions for standard deduction and other allowances, he returned a net income of Rs. 24,360. He, however, appended a note in Part III of the return to the effect that he had received Rs. 81,025 from various foreign organisations during the year in trust on their behalf for being expended on services expected of him as a missionary. He also admitted receipts at Rs. 35,914 in 'Satyavani' account and Rs. 27,493 in 'Voice of Trust' account. He has categorically stated 'the assessee had nothing to do with the said amounts also in his individual capacity since the money is not his.' It is also pertinent to note that the assessee had been appending similar ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... that the assessee is accountable for the moneys received. There is even periodical supervision over his activities. He found that the assessee was a mere trustee in respect of the amounts received. Merely because the assessee showed the amounts in Part III of the return, he was of the view that it does not become his income. He pointed out that the assessee, who is a priest, received the amounts broadly for the propagation of Christian religion in the area and that these funds were held in trust by him and were actually spent for the purpose. He, therefore, found no basis for the addition. The appeal was, therefore, allowed. 3. In the departmental appeal, the decision of the first appellate authority is disputed. According to the grounds, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e assessment. He pointed out to the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of P. Krishna Menon v. CIT [1959] 35 ITR 48 where the Supreme Court found that even a teacher of Vedanta philosophy could be treated as having a vocation and not a profession and that a voluntary payment received by him was taxable in his hands. He then referred to the decision of the Kerala High Court in CIT v. Dr. K. George Thomas [1974] 97 ITR 111 where the Kerala High Court held that the contribution received by the assessee for running a newspaper Kerala Dhwani for the spread of religion from the funds from America were treated as his own income. He also pointed out to the decision of the Madras High Court in the case of Addl. CIT v. Gangabai Charities [1983] ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... is warranted on unspent amount or on the ground that the purpose is not a charitable one, the learned counsel argued that the assessment of such income could not be in the assessee's individual hands wherein his income from remuneration is taxed. He pointed out that the revenue has not brought any materials on record for challenging the finding of the first appellate authority. It was claimed that the assessee was in a position to furnish full details as to the nature of the deposit. It was pointed out that the ITO himself has mentioned that these amounts emanated from various Christian organisations. It is futile to imagine that these large amounts are given to him without any strings so that the assessee could even utilise the same for h ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... amount for saying mass. The learned counsel for the assessee cited the decision of the Supreme Court in CIT v. Groz-Beckert Saboo Ltd. [1979] 116 ITR 125 wherein even the gift of raw material by a foreign collaborator to an Indian taxpayer was held to be a capital receipt on the assumption that a gift could never constitute income. 5. We have carefully considered the records as well as arguments. The assessee is an evangelist by profession and offered his remuneration as taxable income. He also receives money from his sponsors and its allied institutions in the United States for the purposes of propagation of religion. The assessee has also given the details of the donors and has claimed that he was acting as a trustee on behalf of such ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the same as his personal funds cannot arise. In fact, the ITO has not only been inconsistent with his own inference for earlier and later years but he has been inconsistent even in respect of the treatment to be accorded to the entire receipts. If the moneys belonged to the assessee, the entire receipt should constitute his income irrespective of the fact whether he had spent part of the receipts for public charitable or religious purpose or not. It is only in respect of institutions governed by section 11 that unspent income received even by way of voluntary contributions could be taxed unless there is a permission for accumulation of such income from the ITO. The ITO was, therefore, not correct in assuming that only unspent income could b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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