Eligibility of Trust allegedly for Working Particular Community Welfare to Claim Income Tax Exemption: Supreme Court sets for Final Hearing [Read Judgement]
The apex court listed the matter for final hearing on 20 November 2025.
incometax - exemption - taxscan
incometax - exemption - taxscan
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the Revenue’s challenge, where the central allegation of the revenue was that the Evangelical fellowship is a trust working for the welfare of a particular religious community and its eligibility to claim income tax exemption under Sections 11 and 12 of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
The Special Leave Petition, filed by the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemptions), challenged the Delhi High Court’s order, which had dismissed the Revenue’s appeal after noting that the issue stood covered by earlier judgments in favour of the assessee - Evangelical Fellowship of India.
During the hearing before the Supreme Court, the Additional Solicitor General Raghavendra P. Shankar argued that the trust’s memorandum of association clearly indicated that its activities were intended for the benefit of a specific religious community, and therefore the trust was ineligible for exemption.
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He depended on Section 13(1)(b) of the Act, which expressly bars exemption to trusts created after the commencement of the Act if they are established “for the benefit of any particular religious community or caste.” He submitted that, by virtue of this provision, the trust’s income could not be excluded from the total income of the previous year.
Countering the Revenue’s submissions, counsel for the assessee pointed out that the High Court had already recorded that the legal question stood concluded by earlier decisions of the same court, particularly the decision in Director of Income Tax (Exemption) v. Indian Evangelical Team, where similar allegations had been rejected.
After hearing both sides, the bench of Justice J.B. Pardiawala and Justice K.V. Viswanathan condoned the delay and granted leave to appeal, listing the matter for final hearing on 20 November 2025.
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