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Delhi High Court: An advertisement published in the Urdu language, cannot be presumed that it was targeted to a particular community only

Team SoOLEGAL 18 Apr 2022 3:25pm

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Delhi High Court: An advertisement published in the Urdu language, cannot be presumed that it was targeted to a particular community only

New Delhi: The High Court of Delhi was hearing a petition that raised a common question of law, namely, whether the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal was correct in allowing the assessee's appeal even though the assessee had paid the majority of the scholarship amount to students of a particular religious community, a clear breach of Section 13(1) (b) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

The Tribunal, according to learned counsel for the appellant, ignored the fact that the Assessing Officer found that the Respondent had given merit-cum-scholarship/financial assistance to candidates predominantly belonging to a particular religious community, which is a violation of Section 13(1)(b) of the Act. It was claimed that the assessee published an advertisement for an educational scholarship in Urdu and only in one newspaper. As per the counsel, this demonstrates that the assessee wanted to limit the distribution of the scholarship advertisement because it intended to benefit only a specific religious community.

After hearing both sides, the Court stated that both the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeal) and the Tribunal had made a concurrent finding of fact that the advantage of a scholarship to poor and needy students was not limited to students from a specific community, and that a review of the list submitted by the assessee revealed that the benefit had been extended to students from all communities without discrimination.

Just because an advertisement was published in Urdu and a single newspaper, it cannot be assumed that it was only targeted at students from a particular community, the High Court stated. In taxation, the principles of res-judicata and estoppel are unquestionably inapplicable. However, it has been held that departing from a previous finding would result in a contradictory result. As a result, this Court believes that consistency of approach is essential.


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Tagged: Income Tax   High Court   Tax Act 1961  
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