# COIMBATORE v. KRISHNA WARRIAR

- **Citation:** [1964] 8 S.C.R. 36
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1961-01-20
- **Bench:** K. SUBBA RAo, J. C. Shah, Ands. M. Sjkri
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/coimbatore-v-krishna-warriar-3274
- **Pages:** 15

## Headnote

ltteome
Tax-Exemption
from taxation-Businen
held
in
trUllPllrl of profit• to be utiliud for religiOIU or charitable purp"'•,_
l:! S.C.I<
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
37
Business, if property-Indian Income-tax Act, 1922
(11 of 1922),
s. 4(3)(1).
1164
CJ.'I.
A testator was carrying on business in Ayurvedic drugs under the ~
,., W:
name and style of Arya Vaidya Sala.
Under his will his
properties,
_
""
.including the business, were held under trust and the object of the trw.t
y;as to utilise 60 per cent of the profits of the business for 20 yean
and 85 per cent thereafter for religious and charitable purpo!!ieS.
The
assessment years in qu'tstion fell within 20 years from the death of
the testator and the question was whether the 60 per cent of t.:ie
income from the trust 1 properties was exempt from
assessment
to
income-tax under s. 4(3)(i) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922. The
lncome·tax authorities rejected the claim for exemption and
asse~od
the entire income from the said properties, on the ground that the
.ubstantive cl. (i) of s. 4(3) was not applicable to the case but only
el. (b) of tlie prmliso and that the conditions laid down thereunder
were not complied with.
HELD: (i) The business run under the name and
style
of
Arya
Vaidya Sala was property within the meaning of s. 4(3 )(i)
of
the
Indian Income-tax Act, 1922, and as the entire business was held ia
trust for uti[sing a part of its profits for religious or charitable purposes, the said income Was exempt from assessment
to • income-tai
under that section.
(ii) Cl. (b) of the proviso to s. 4(3)(i) was applicable only to a
business not held in trust but carried on on behalf of a religious or
charitable institution.
(iii) A business held in trust wholly or in part for
religion• or
charitable purposes was not a business carried on on behalf
of
a
religious or charitable institution.
(iv) The dichotomy between the two expressions "wholly" and "'in
part" in s. 4(3 )(i) was not based upon the dedication of the whole
or a fractional part of the property, but between the dedication of lite
said property the income from which was to be utilized wholly
for
religious or charitable purposes or in part for such purposes.
(v) The expression ''such income" in the opening words
of the
proviso to s. 4(3) (i)' meant "income accruing or arising in favour of
the trust".
CML APPELLATE JURISDICTION:
Civil Appeal Nos.
606-610 of 1963.
Appeals by special leave from the judgment dated January 20, 1961 of the Kerala High Court in Income-tax
Referred Case No. 16 of 1959.
K. N. Rajagopal Sastri and R. N. Sachthey, for the
appellant (in all the appeals) .
1964
CJ.T.
v.
;,11na
W arriat
-:ubba Rao I.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
S. T. Desai and Sardar Bahadur, for the respondent (in
all the appeals) .
April 29, 1964. The Judgment of the Court was
delivered by
·
SuBBA RAo J.-These appeals by special leave raise the
question of the construction of the provisions of s. 4(3 )(i)
of the Indian Income-taic Act, 1922, hereinafter called the
Act, as amended by the Indian Income-tax (Amendment)
Act, 195 3, hereinafter called the Amending Act.
The facts are as follows.
One P. S. Warriar, an eminent
Ayurvedic physician, carried on business in Ayurvedic drugs
under the name and style of "Arya Vaidya Sala" and was
also running a hospital named "Arya Sikitsa Sala" and a
school called "Arya Vaidya Pata Sala". The said Warri.ar
died on January 30, 1944, after executing a will wherein he
created a. trust in respect of his properties, including the
Arya Vaidya Sah.
He gave directions to the
trustees
appointed under th~ said will to conduct the said business
and to disburse the income therefrom in certain proportions
to the Arya Vaidya Sala, Arya Sikitsa Sala and Arya Vaidya
Pata Sala and to his descendants.
Broadly stated 60 per
cent of the income was directed to be spent on the said
three institutions and 40 per cent to be given to his descendants.
Till the Amending Act came into force the Incometax Department gave exemption fro

## Text

1964
CJ.T.,
Modrt11
••
Slvaklui Match
Export Co.
SWJ.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[rg64J
so complied with, the taxing authorities would be bound to
refuse to give the taxpayer the benefit claimed. When
application for registration of the firm is made, the Incometax Officer is entitled to ascertain whether the names of the
partners in the instrument are of persons who have agreed
to be partners, whether ihe shares are properly specified and
whether the statement about the shares is real or is merely
a cloak for dis,ributing the profits in a different manner.
If all persons who have in truth agreed to be partners have
not signed the deed or their shares are not truly set out in
the deed of partnership, it would be open to the Incometax Officer to decline to register the deed, even if under the
general Jaw of partnership the rights and obligations of tke
partners eo nomine thereto may otherwise be adjusted. As
a corollary to this, if the requirements relating to the form
in which the petition is to be presented are not complied
with, and the relevant information is withheld, the Incometax Officer may be justified in refusing registration.
In my view the High Court was in error in holding on
the question submitted that the registration of the assessee
under s. 26-A of the Income-tax Act was wrongly refused.
The answer to the ques:ion referred to the High Court
lhould be in the affirmative.
ORDER
In accordance with the opinion of the majority, the
appeal is dismissed with costs.
Appeal dismissed
COMMISSIONER OF INCOME-TAX KERALA AND
COIMBATORE
v.
KRISHNA WARRIAR
(K. SUBBA RAo, J. C. SHAH, ANDS. M. SJKRI JJ.)
ltteome
Tax-Exemption
from taxation-Businen
held
in
trUllPllrl of profit• to be utiliud for religiOIU or charitable purp"'•,_
l:! S.C.I<
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
37
Business, if property-Indian Income-tax Act, 1922
(11 of 1922),
s. 4(3)(1).
1164
CJ.'I.
A testator was carrying on business in Ayurvedic drugs under the ~
,., W:
name and style of Arya Vaidya Sala.
Under his will his
properties,
_
""
.including the business, were held under trust and the object of the trw.t
y;as to utilise 60 per cent of the profits of the business for 20 yean
and 85 per cent thereafter for religious and charitable purpo!!ieS.
The
assessment years in qu'tstion fell within 20 years from the death of
the testator and the question was whether the 60 per cent of t.:ie
income from the trust 1 properties was exempt from
assessment
to
income-tax under s. 4(3)(i) of the Indian Income-tax Act, 1922. The
lncome·tax authorities rejected the claim for exemption and
asse~od
the entire income from the said properties, on the ground that the
.ubstantive cl. (i) of s. 4(3) was not applicable to the case but only
el. (b) of tlie prmliso and that the conditions laid down thereunder
were not complied with.
HELD: (i) The business run under the name and
style
of
Arya
Vaidya Sala was property within the meaning of s. 4(3 )(i)
of
the
Indian Income-tax Act, 1922, and as the entire business was held ia
trust for uti[sing a part of its profits for religious or charitable purposes, the said income Was exempt from assessment
to • income-tai
under that section.
(ii) Cl. (b) of the proviso to s. 4(3)(i) was applicable only to a
business not held in trust but carried on on behalf of a religious or
charitable institution.
(iii) A business held in trust wholly or in part for
religion• or
charitable purposes was not a business carried on on behalf
of
a
religious or charitable institution.
(iv) The dichotomy between the two expressions "wholly" and "'in
part" in s. 4(3 )(i) was not based upon the dedication of the whole
or a fractional part of the property, but between the dedication of lite
said property the income from which was to be utilized wholly
for
religious or charitable purposes or in part for such purposes.
(v) The expression ''such income" in the opening words
of the
proviso to s. 4(3) (i)' meant "income accruing or arising in favour of
the trust".
CML APPELLATE JURISDICTION:
Civil Appeal Nos.
606-610 of 1963.
Appeals by special leave from the judgment dated January 20, 1961 of the Kerala High Court in Income-tax
Referred Case No. 16 of 1959.
K. N. Rajagopal Sastri and R. N. Sachthey, for the
appellant (in all the appeals) .
1964
CJ.T.
v.
;,11na
W arriat
-:ubba Rao I.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
S. T. Desai and Sardar Bahadur, for the respondent (in
all the appeals) .
April 29, 1964. The Judgment of the Court was
delivered by
·
SuBBA RAo J.-These appeals by special leave raise the
question of the construction of the provisions of s. 4(3 )(i)
of the Indian Income-taic Act, 1922, hereinafter called the
Act, as amended by the Indian Income-tax (Amendment)
Act, 195 3, hereinafter called the Amending Act.
The facts are as follows.
One P. S. Warriar, an eminent
Ayurvedic physician, carried on business in Ayurvedic drugs
under the name and style of "Arya Vaidya Sala" and was
also running a hospital named "Arya Sikitsa Sala" and a
school called "Arya Vaidya Pata Sala". The said Warri.ar
died on January 30, 1944, after executing a will wherein he
created a. trust in respect of his properties, including the
Arya Vaidya Sah.
He gave directions to the
trustees
appointed under th~ said will to conduct the said business
and to disburse the income therefrom in certain proportions
to the Arya Vaidya Sala, Arya Sikitsa Sala and Arya Vaidya
Pata Sala and to his descendants.
Broadly stated 60 per
cent of the income was directed to be spent on the said
three institutions and 40 per cent to be given to his descendants.
Till the Amending Act came into force the Incometax Department gave exemption from assessment for the 60
per cent of the income under s. 4(3) (i) of th; Act; but,
after the Amending Act came into force, which was given
retrospective operation from .April 1, 1952, the said Department refused to give exemption from
assessment even in
regard to the 60 per cent of the income.
For the assessment years 1954-55 and 1955-56 the Income-tax Officer
assessed the entire income from the said properties; and in
respect of the income pertaining to the assessment years
1952-53 and 1953-54, which had already been assessed in
the usual course giving exemption for the said 60 per cent
of the income, the Income-tax Officer issued notices under
s. 34 of the Act and by two separate orders dated September
28, 1956, assessed the said 60 per cent of the income on
the basis of escaped assessment.
On December 20, 1956,
8 S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
39
for Ile assessment year 1956-57 the Income-tax Officer, in
1964
the li.:e manner, assessed the entire income from the said
CJ.T.
properties.
The appeals filed by the assessee against the
.
v.
.
·
f
.
Kruhna
Warr.a,
said urders o assessment to the Appellate Assistant Com_
misskner were dismissed.
The appeals filed
against the
Subba Rao J.
orderH of the Appellate Assistant
Commissioner to the
Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, Madras, were consolidated
and by its order dated February 28, 1958, the said Tribunal
allowed the app~als ex em piing
60 per cent
of the said
income from assessment to income-tax under s. 4 ( 3) ( i) of
the Act. The references made to the High Court of Kerala
were dismissed.
Hence the present appeals.
Mr. Rajagopala Sastri, learned counselfor the Revenue,
contends that under s. 4 ( 3 )( i) of the Act whereunder the
said income is given exemption from taxation, the property
wherefrom the income is derived shall have been held under
trust wholly or in part for religious or charitable purposes,
that the business run under the name and style of Arya
Vaidya Sala was not capable of being held in trust, that
even if it was capable of beirig held under trust, it was not
wholly or in part so held in trust for religious or charitable
purposes, as only a part of the income was rlirected to be
spent for religious or charitable pu.rposes and that in
the
circumstances cl. (b) of the proviso was attractd but the
conditions laid down thereunder were not complied with.
Learned counsel for the respondent, Mr. S. T. D~sai,
contends that business is property within the meaning of
s. 4 ( 3 )( i) of the Act and that it is held in tmst in part for
religious and charitable purposes and, therefore, the substantive part of the provision is attracted to .the facts of the
case and hence the proviso is excluded.
Before we construe the relevant provisions of the Act
and consider the arguments advanced on either sid~, it would
be convenient at the outset to read the mateiial part of tbe
will and to ascertain· the scope of the bequest created thereunder.
The will is marked as Annexure A2 in the case.
1be relevant parts of the Will read:
"l. Will executed
by
Pannbmnalli
Warrialh
deceased Parvathi alias Kunkikutty Warassiar's
IHI
CJ.T.
Y.
'.ruluw
",,,,;,,,.
40
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[rg64]
son Sri Sankunny Warriar known as Vaidyaratnam Sri P. S. Warriar, residing at Puthan Warian
in Kottak:kal Amsom and Desom of Ernad
Taluk.;'
"7. Apart from the properties mentioned in Schedule
B, C and D all other properties, movable as
well as immovable, belonging to me I hereby
constitute into a trust to be managed by the
trustees as per the directions in the will. They
are described in Schedule E, and on my demise
those properties will vest in the trustees. It is
my intention that except the properties mentioned in paras 4 and 5 (B, C & D Schedule),
all my properties are to be• included in the
Trust and therefore, even if some item of
property is left out by 'inadvertence, it is also
to be deemed included in the Trust and vested
in the Trustees."
"8. Provisions regarding the Trust.
I hereby nominate the following persons as the first Board of
Trustees:-
........ (Names of 7 persons given).
4 9. The above Trust is to be managed and conducted
according to the terms and conditions detailed
below:-
(A to F) .......................... .
G. The primary and chief objects·of the Trust are
to carry on for ever the two institutions viz.,
the Arya Vaidya Sala and the Arya Vaidya
Hospital on the lines followed now with the
object of enlarging and increasing their scope
and utility.
The work of Arya Vaidya Sala
now consists of,
1. preparation of Ayurvedic medicines,
2. sale of the same,
3. treatment of patients, receiving from them
compensation according to their capacity
and means,
8 S.C.R
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
fff4
CJ.T.
...
4. to conduct research into Arya Vaidyam with
a view to make it more and more useful
to the public.
~ ... ,,,..
II' .nar
H. The following are the matters conducted in the
'•bb• Ru 1.
institution called the Arya Vaidya Hospita!..
1. To examine poor patients free of charge, to
prescribe treatment for them and give
medicines gratis (out-patient Department).
2. To take in at least 12 poor patients at any
time, give them lodging and board and
also free medicines and treatment free (the
in-patient Department).
3. To carry out the said services with the help
of an Arya V aidyan and necessary operations with the help of an Allopathi doctor.
4. Give treatment and medicines to all persons
seeking them, receiving from such of them
as are able such remuneration as they can
afford including cost of medicines.
The
Arya Vaidya Hospital is now carried on
with the medicines supplied by and takeri
from th\: Arya Vaidya Sala and the
incidental expenses are now me~, from out
of the funds of the Arya Vaidya Sala.
]. The trustees are to run the above institutions
according to the intentions expressed abovo::
with such modifications as the circumstances
may .warrant.
K. In the Arya Vaidya Patasala run under the
auspices of the Arya Samajam, Aryavaidyam
is taught in accordance with the service of
Ayurveda.
I have been meeting the expenses of the said institutions, not covered
by its income.
From out of the profits of
Arya Vaidya Sala.
L. Out of the net profits of the Arya Vaidya Sala
25 per cent is to be devoted to the ftevelop-
1964
CJ.T .
...
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[rg64]
Krishna
Warriar
ment of the Arya Vaidya Sala, 25 per cent
for meeting the expenses of the Arya Vaidya
Hospital and 25 per cent for division equally
between the two tavazhies (this only for 25
years) out of the remaining 25 per cent a
sum not exceeding 10 per cent
may be
according to
requirements, utilised for the
purposes of the Arya Vaidya Patasala. The
balance, if any, that m1y remain out of the
10 per cent after disbursement to the Arya
Vaidya Patasala, may he used for the Arya
Vaidya Sala itself. The balancr 15 per cent
are to be deposited by the Trustees each year
in approved banks as a Reserve fund for the
two tavazhies for a period of 20 years and
the fund thus accumulated
inclusive
of
interest is to be divided equally among the
two tavazhies equally i.e., in moiety and it
will be the duty of the Trmtees to invest the
same on the authority of immovable properties.
Subba Rao 1.
M. The Trustees me not bound to pay any amount
to the said two tavazhies after the expiry of
20 years.
The 40 per cent of the profit
so earmarked for 20 years and so released
after the expiry 9f 20 years are therefore to
be utilised for the development of the Arya
Vaidya Sala
and Arya
V.1idya Hospital
according to the discretion of the Trustees.
E Schedule: All remaining properties constituted
into the Trust.
It will be seen from the said recitals of the Will μiat the
testator created a trust in respect of his entire properties,
including those mentioned in Schedules B, C and D and
specifically vested them in the trustees appointed thereunder.
The properties
so vested included the business
carried on in the name .1nd style of Arya Vaidya Sala. The
main objects of the trust were to carry on the said two institutions, namely, Arya Vaidya Sala and Arya Vaidya Hospital
•·
8 S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
43
and also the other objects mentioned thereunder. Out of
1964
the income from the business so vested in the trustees, he
cJ.T.
directed the trustees to spend 25 per cent for the develop-
.
v.
ment of Arya Vaidya Sala, 25 per cent to meet the expenses Krtslm•
War
of ·the Arya Vaidya Hospital, not exceeding 10 per cent for
Subba Rao .
the Arya Vaidya Patasala, 25 per cent to be shared equally
by the two branches of the family of the testor for a period
of 20 years .and thereafter to be utilized for the purpose of
the Arya Vaidya Sala and Arya Vaidya Hospital and 15
per cent to be given to the said branches; that is to say, 60
per cent of the total properties for a period of 20 years from
the. demise of the testator should be utilized for religious and
charitable purposes and thereafter 85 per cent to be utilized
for the said purposes and the rest to be spent on non-religious
and non-charitable purposes.
Therefore, under the Will the
E Schedule properties, including the business, were
held
under trust and the object of the trust was to utilize uO per
cent of the profits of the business for 20 years and 85 per
cent thereafter for religious and charitable purposes.
The
assessment years in question fell within 20 ye.1rs from the
death of the testator and, therefore, we are concerned only
with 60 per cent of the income from the trust properties.
The question is whe.ther the 60 per cent of the income from
the trust properties is eXe!fipt from assessment to income-tax
under s. 4(3) (i) of the Act.
The relevant provisions of
the Act read:
Section 4. ( 3) Any income, profits or gains falling
within the following classes shall not be inc!uded in the total income of the person receiving
them:
(i) any income derived from property held under
trust or other legal obligation wholly
for
religious or charitable purposes, and in the
case of property so held in part only for such
purposes, the income applied, or finally set
apart for application, thereto:
Provided that such income shall be included in
the total income ..................... .
(b) in the case of income derived from business
carried on behalf of a religious or charit-
ll)IU
CJ.T .
44
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
...
,j(rishna
Warnar
able institutions, unless
the
income is
applied wholly for the purpose of the institution and eitherSubba Rao J.
(i) the business is carried on in tbe cours~
of the actual carrying out of a primary
purpose of the institution, or
(ii) the work in connection witb the busineS5
is mainly carried on by beneficiaries of
the institution.
A brief history of the proviso may not be out of place here.
Before the amendment of this clause by the Amending Act
of 1953 the proviso was in the form of a separate substantive
clause and was numbered as cl. ( i-a). The said cl. (i-a)
came under judicial scrutiny.
It was argued on behalf of
the Revenue that though a business was held under trust for
religious or charitable purposes, it would fall under cl. (i-a)
and the income therefrom could not be exempted from
income-tax unless th~ conditions laid down in the said clause
were complied with.
In Charitable
Gadodia
Swadeshi
Stores v. Commissioner of Income-tax, Puniah (1 ) .• the Lahore
High Court rejected that contention, and one of the reasons
given for the rejection was that if the s.aid clause was intended to narrow down the scope of cl. (i), the said clause
should have been added as a proviso to the old clause. Presumably on the basis of this suggestion the Amending Act of
1953 substituted cl. (i-a) by cl. (b) of the proviso. But it
is not an inflexible rule of construction that a proviso in a
statute should always be read as a limitation upon the effect
of the main enactment. Generally the natural presumption
is that but for the proviso the enacting part of the section
would have included the subject-matter of the proviso; but
the clear language of the substantive provision as well as
the proviso may establish that the proviso is not a qualifying clause of the main provisions, but is in itself a substantive
provision.
In the words of Maxwell, "the true principle is
that the sound view of the enacting clause, the saving clause
and the proviso take.n and construed tog;ether is to prevail".
So construed we find no difficulty, as we wiU indicate later
(I) (1944) Ii I.T.R. 385.
_J •
8 S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
45
ia our judgment, in holding that the said cl. ( b) of the
1964
proviso de.als with a case of business which is not vc,ted in
CJ. r.
trust for religi~us or charitable purposes within the moaning Kmlm;i •. """'6 "
of the substantlve clause of s. 4 ( 3) ( 1).
-··
With this introductory remarks we shall proceed to con·
strue the provisions of s. 4(3)(i) of the Act, along with
cl. (b) of the Proviso.
Under cl. (i), so far as it is relevant
to the question raised before us, to earn the exemption the
income shall have been derived from property under trust
wholly or in part held for religious or charitable purposes.
Under cl. (b) of the proviso to that clause, in the case of
income derived from business carried on on behalf of a
religious or charitable institution, unless the condition laid
down thereunder are complied with, the said income cannot
be exempted. If business is property and is held under trust
wholly or partly for religious or charitable purposes, it falls
squarely under the. substantive part of cl. ( i) and i" that
event cl. (b) of the proviso cannot be attracted, as under
that clause of the proviso the business mentioned therein is
not held under trust but one
carried on on behalf of a
religious or charitable institution.
To take a business out
of the substantive cl. ( i) of s. 4 ( 3) and place it in cl. (b)
of the proviso, it is suggested that business is not property and
that even if it is property the said property is not wholly or
partly held in trust for re!lgious or charitable purposes. That
business is property is now well settled.
The Privy Council
in In re Trustees of the Tribune(') did not question the
view expressed by the Bombay High Court that business of
running the newspaper Tribune was property held under
ocsst for charitable purposes.
This Court in J. K. Trust,
•ombay 'Y. Commissioner of Income-tax .. Excess profits Tax
:lombay(") endorsed the said view and held that "property"
ii .11 term of the widest import and that business would undoubtedly be property unless there was something to the contrary in the enactment. If business was property, it could
be held under trust for religious and charitable purposes. As
the business of running the Arya Vaidya Sala vested under
trust for religious and charitable purposes, it would iall under
(1 ) (1939) l.T.R. 415 (P.C.)
(2) (19 58) S.C.R. 65
Subba Rtro 1.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
11164
cl. (i), if the other conditions laid down therein were satis·
C.L.T.
fied.
The necessary condition for the application of cl. (i)
Kri.rhna Y. Warrior of ~· 4(3) of the Act is that the said property, namely,. the
-
busmess, shall have been wholly or iD part held for rehg10us
S11bba RJIO 1.
or charitable purposes.
As 40 per cent of the profits in
the business would be given to purposes other than religious
or charitable purposes it cannot be said that the business was
held wholly for religious or charitable purposes.
But as 60
per cent of the profits thereof would be spent for religious
or charitable purposes, the question is whether it can be
held that the business was held in trust in part for religious
or charitable purposes.
The argument advanced on behalf
of the Revenue is that the expression "in part" in cl. (i)
applies only to a case where an aliquot part of property is
vested in trust and that is not legally possible in the case
of business. It is said that a business is one and indivisible
and, therefore, the subject-matter of trust can only be the
share of the profits payable to a partner during the continuance of the partnership or after its dissolution. Reliance
is placed in support of the said proposition on the decisions
in K. A. Ramachar v.
Commissioner of Income-tax,
Madras('), David Burnet v.
Charles P.
Leininger(2 ),
Mohammad Ibrahim Riza v. Commissioner of Income-tax,
Nagpur( 8 ). The first two decisions dealt with a different
problem, viz., whether an assessee is liable to tax on his share
of profits in a finn after setting or assigning the same in
favour of a third party and the courts have held that the
profits accrued to the assessee before the assignments could
operate on them and he was Ii.able to be assessed to tax OD.
the said profits.
In the third decision, the Judicial Committee held that there was no valid trust for charitable purposes, as the utilization of the income to charitable or secular
purposes was left to the absolute discretion of the head of
the community. None of the three decisions has .any bearing
on the question whether a business could be held in trust
wholly or in part for religious or charitable purposes. That
question falls to be considered on different considerations.
In our view, the expression "in part" does not refer . to
an aliquot part; if half a house is held in trust wholly Jor
(I) [I96I] 3 s.c.R. 380
(2) (I 932) 76 L.Jld. 665.
(3) (1930) S7 I.A. 260
S S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
47
religious or charitable purposes, it would be covered by the
first part of the substantive clause of cl. ( i), for in that event
the subject-matter r.f the trust is only the said half of the
·,ouse and that half is ':leld w:1011y for religious or charitable
purposes.
The expression "in part'', therefore, must apply
to a case other than a property a part of which is wholly
held for religious or charitable purposes.
In India there are
a variety of trusts wherein there is no complete dedication of
the property but only a partial dedication.
A property
may be dedicated entirely to a religious or charitable institution or to a deity. This is an instance of complete dedication. A property may be dedicated to. a deity, subject to a
charge that a part of the income shall be given to the
grantor's h€irs.
A property may be given to an individttal
subject to, or burdened with, a charge in favour of an. idol
or a religious institution or for charitable purposes.
An
owner of property may retain the property for himself but
carve out a beneficial interest· therefrom in favour of the
public by way of easement or otherwise.
There may be
many other instance, where though there is a trust, it
involves only a partial dedication of the property held under
trust in the sense that only a part of the income of that
property is utilized for religious or charitable purposes. The
dichotomy between the two expressions "wholly" and "in
part" is not based upon the dedication of the whole or a
fractional part of the property, but between the dedication
of the said property wholly for religious or charitable purposes or in part for such purposes. If so understood, the
two limbs of the substantive clause fall into a piece. The
first limb deals with a property or a part of it held in trust
wholly for religious or charitable purposes, and the second
limb provides for such a property held in trust partly for
religious or charitable purposes.
On the said reading of
the provision it follows that the entire business of Arya
Vaidya Sala is held in trust for utilizing 60 per cent of its
profits i.e., a part of the income, for religious or charitable
purposes. The present case, therefore, falls squarely within
the scope of the substantive part of cl. (i) of s. 4(3) of the
Act.
Even so it is contended that cl. ( b) of the
proviso
imposes further limitations before the
exemption can be
'1964
C.I.T.,
...
Krishna W arriar
Subba Rao J.
-48
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
1964
granted. But the :said clause of the proviso only applies to
CJ.T.
the case of income derived from business carried on on
•. h
"· ..,
. behalf of a religious or charitable institution.
A business
.. rzs na
"a1riar
.
.
. .
.
-
held m. trust wholly or m part for reltg10us or chantable
S~bbo Rao ·1.
purposes is not a business carried on on hehalf of a religious
I
or charitable institution, for the business itself is held in
trust.
A few decisions cited at the Bar bringing out the
distinction between the substantive part of cl. (i) of s. 4 ( 3)
and cl. (b) of the proviso may usefully be referred to at
this stage.
Where a business was held in trust for charitable
ourposes, a Division Bench of the Bombay High Court in
Dharma Vijiya Agency v. Commissioner of . Income-tax,
Bombay City(') held that it was not business which was
carried on on behalf of religious or charitable institutions
within the meaning of cl. (b) of the proviso.
Shah J.,
after considering the relevant authorities and the provisions
of the Act, observed:
"In our view, the business referred to in cl. (b) of
the proviso need not be business which is held
for religious or charitable purposes, provided
it is business carried on on behalf of a religious
or charitable institution."
Desai I., stated thus:
" ........ it is impossible to equate the scope of
proviso (b) with the scope of property consisting of business held under trust wholly for religious or charitable purposes.
It must of necessity mean that we have in clause ( i) a very
wide category of business which is trust property, and we have in proviso (b) a restricted
and a lesser category of business which
is
carried on by or on behalf of a religious or
charitable institution."
A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court in Dharmodayam
Co. v. Commissioner of Income-tax, Kerala( 2 )
expressed
much to the same effect.
A Division Bench of the Madras
High Court, in Thiagesar Dharma Vanikam v. Commissioner
( 1) (1960) 38 l.T.R. 392, 405-466, 410.
(2) (1962) 45 I.T.R. 478.
8 S.C.R
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
l9H
C.I.T.
"·
<Jf Income-tax, Madras('), after considering the decisions of
the various High Courts and the relevant provisions of the
Act, observed:
Krishna
W""""
"When the trustee acts, it is only the trust that acts,
Subb<r llJlo 1•
as the trustee fully
represents the trust.
A
business carried on on behalf of a trust .rather
indicates a business which is not held in trust,
than a business of the trust run by the trustees."
It concluded thus:
"fn our opinion proviso (b) to section 4(3) (i) does
not restrict the operation of the main provision
in section 4 ( 3) ( i). If a trust carried on business and the business itself is held in trust and
the income from such business is applied or
accumulated for application for the purpose of
the trust. which must of cou· ;e be of a religious
or a chariL1hle character, the conditions prescribed in sec;ion 4(3)(i) . e fulfilled and the
income is ex~rnpt fr'.!111 ta~~tibn. Thb exemption cannot lle defeated e-. en if the
business
were to be conducted by somebody else acting
on behalf of the trust. Pr JViso (b) to section
4(3) (i) has application only
to
businesses
which are not held in trust, and the field of its
operation is, therefore, distinct
and separate
from that covered by section 4 ( 3 )( i)."
Emph~sis is laid upon the expression "such income" in the
openir:g words of the proviso and a crntention is raised that
the inrnme dealt with in the proviso is income derived from
prope; :y held under trust.
To state :. differently, the adjective 'such" in the expression "such income" refers back to
the in ome in the substantive clause.
There is some plausibility in the contention, but if the intP-pretation be accepted,
we w' l be attributing an intention to the legislature to make
a dis'. inction between bm.iness ano other property though
bfl:h >f them are held under trmt.
There is no acceptable
rl'.f·~• t for this distinction.
T:rnt apart,
the
expression
(( (I963) 50 f.T.R. 798, 807, 809.
jl S. C.-4
50
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[rg64J
IfJfU
"such" may . as weU refer to the "income" in the opening
CJ.T.
sentence of sub-s. (3). The said rnb-section says that the
~I h "· WanllJ incomes mentioned thereunder shall not be included in the
• "°-
' total income, but the proviso lifts the ban and says that such
Sublla Rao 1.
incomes shall be included in the to:al income if the conditions laid down are satisfied.
We think that the expression
usuch income" only means the income accruing or arising in
favour of the trust.
1964
April, 29.
The legal position may briefly be stated thus.
Clause
(i) of s. 4,(3) of the Act takes in every property or a fractional part of it held in trust wholly for religious or charitable purposes.
It also takes in :mch property held only in
part for such purposes.
Business is also property within the
meaning of the said clause. Clause (b) of the proviso to
s. 4(3)(i) applies only to a business not held in trust but
carried on on behalf of religious or charitable institutions.
For the foregoing reasons we hold that the High Court
has co~ectly answered the question referred to it.
In the result, the appeals fail and are dismissed with
costs.
One set of hearing fees.
Appeal dismissed.
JAGDISH CHANDER GUPTA
v.
KAJARIA TRADERS (INDIA) LTD.
(K. N.
WANCHOO,
M.
HIDAYATULLAH,
K.
C.
DAS
GUPTA AND N. RAJAGOPALA AYYANGAR JJ.)
hrbitration Act-Partnership agreement-Provision
for
referring
to
arbitration-Partnership not registered-Application
in
the High
Court for appointment of arbitrator-If maintainable-Interpretation
of statute-Ejusdem Generis--No1citur a
sociis-Indiarc
Partnership Act, 1932 (9 of 1932), •· 69-Arbitration Act, 1940
(Act 10 of 1940), " 8(2).
lbo respondent entered into a partnership agreement with tho appellant. But this was not registered. There was an arbitration clauoe sti-