Assistant Commissioner Of Income Tax (Exemptions) v. Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority

[2022] 8 S.C.R. 581 ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER OF INCOME TAX(EXEMPTIONS) AHMEDABAD URBAN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MISCELLANEOUS APPLICATION NO. 1849 OF 2022 (Civil Appeal No. 21762 of 2017) NOVEMBER 03, 2022 [UDAY UMESH LALIT, CJI, S. RAVINDRA BHAT ANDPAMIDIGHANTAM SRI NARASIMHA, JJ.] Income Tax Act, 1961: s.2(15) – Revenue sought clarificationof the judgment dated 19.10.2022 – The said judgment consideredthe interpretation of s.2(15) in relation to charitable trusts whichengage in activities that further objects of general public utility – Itwas urged on behalf of the revenue, that in Para 253 H and in Para254, it was precluded from examining the facts and assessing theconcerned assessment years, in relation to the assessees in theseappeals – Held: A plain reading of the conclusions recorded inPara 253 (A)(B)(C) (D) and (E) would disclose that this courtconsciously recorded its findings, with the intent of finally decidingthe issues, for various organizations- in relation to the assessmentyears in question, whereas in Para 253 (F), the court remitted thematter for examination and orders by the assessing officer –Similarly, the conclusion in Para 253 G, was conclusive with respectto the claim of private trusts; the appeals were dismissed – Referenceto application of the law declared by this court’s judgment, therefore,has to be understood in the context, which is that they apply for theassessment years in question, which were before this court and weredecided; wherever the appeals were decided against the revenue,they are to be treated as final – However, reference to futureapplication is to be decided by the concerned authorities by applyingthe law declared by judgment having regard to the facts of eachassessment year. CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : MiscellaneousApplication No.1849 of 2022. In Civil Appeal No.21762 of 2017. 581 AFrom the Judgment and Order dated 19.10.2022 in C.A. No.21762of 2017 of the Supreme Court of India. N. Venkataraman, ASG, Rupesh Kumar, Ms. Gargi Khanna, Ms.Alka Aggarwal, V. Chandrashekara Bharathi, Ms. Amrita, Raj BahadurYadav, Jasmeet Singh, Saif Ali, Pushpendra S. Bhadoriya, Divjot SinghBBhatia, Ms. Rusheet Saluja, Ms. Mamta Chakraborty, Mrs. Anil Katiyar,Rishabh Sancheti, K. Paarivendhan, Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, Advs.for the appearing parties. The Order of the Court was passed by S. RAVINDRA BHAT, J. 1. By this application, the revenue seeks a clarification of thejudgment dated 19.10.2022, delivered by this court, in CA 21762/2017and connected appeals. The clarification sought is that para 254 of thejudgment should be such as to “enable the Revenue to redo theassessments in accordance with the above judgments for the pastDand examine the eligibility on a yearly basis for the future and thusrender justice.” 2. This court, by the judgment in question, had considered andpronounced upon the interpretation of Section 2 (15) of the Income TaxAct, 1961, in relation to charitable trusts which engage in activities thatEfurther objects of general public utility. The activities and cases of variouskinds of charities, trusts and organizations, including statutory corporationsand bodies, regulatory bodies, non- statutory regulatory bodies, tradeorganizations and bodies, sports bodies and organizations, trusts, etc wereconsidered by the court, and dealt with in the judgment. Para 253 recordedFthe court’s summary of conclusions in relation to each such trust, charityor organization.