Worshiping Hindu deities isn’t a religion - An interesting case law by the Nagpur Tribunal

Worshiping Hindu deities isn’t a religion

An interesting case law by the Nagpur Tribunal

Worshipping Hindu deities isn't a religion, trust engaged in such worship entitled for Sec. 80G registration

IT : The condition for denial of exemption under section 80G(5)(iii) may apply to Christianity or Islamism but not to Hinduism, because Hinduism isn't a religion. Thus, a trust engaged in worship of Lord Shiva, Lord Hanuman, etc., is entitled to registration under section 80G as the same can't be regarded as a religious activity

FACTS

• Shiv Mandir Devsttan Panch Committee Sanstan ('Shiv Mandir'), applied for approval under section 80G(5)(vi). As per the financials filed by the assessee, the CIT found that the expenditure on religious objects exceeded 5% of the total income of assessee. Accordingly, in view of explanation 3 to section 80G, read with sub-section 5B, the approval under section 80G was denied.

• The assessee contended that the temple did not belong to a particular religion. Any needy person could come to the Shiv Mandir to take its help irrespective of his faith in Lord Shiva, Lord Hanuman, or goddess Durga. Putting the idols couldn't be regarded as religious activity.

HELD

• The object clause of the trust reads as under:

"Worship of Lord Shiva , Hanumanji, Goddess Durga and maintaining temple. To celebrate festivals like Shivratri, Hanuman Jayanti, Ganesh Uttasav, Makar Sankranti, renovation and maintenance of temple………………"

• The interpretation drawn from section 80G(5)(iii) is that the trust shouldn't be for the benefit of any particular group of persons having common belief in worshiping superhuman controlling power or having common system and faith and worship;

• In the case of Commissioner of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Madras v. Sri Lakshmindra Thirtha Swamiar 1954 SCJ 335, religion had been expressed to mean a matter of faith with individuals or communities. A religion undoubtedly has its basis in a system of beliefs which is regarded by those who profess that religion, but it will not be correct to say that religions is nothing else but a doctrine or belief;

• Worshipping of Lord Shiva, Hanumanji, goddess Durga and maintaining a temple couldn't be regarded for the advancement, support or propagation of a particular religion. These deities do not represent any particular religion; they are merely regarded to be the super powers of the universe;

• The Tribunal observed that the Hinduism is a way of life of a civilized society. The Tribunal relied on its earlier ruling in case of T.T. Kuppuswamy Chettiar v. State of Tamil Nadu [1987] 100 LW 1031, in which it was held that the word "Hindu" was given by British administrators to inhabitants of India, who were not Christians, Muslims, Parsis or Jews. There is, however, no religion by the name of 'Hindu'. It only shows that so called Hindu religion has been so called for convenience;

• Hindu's consists of a number of communities having the different gods who are being worshipped in a different manner, different rituals, and different ethical codes. The worship of god is not essential for a person who has adopted Hinduism way of life. Thus, Hinduism holds within its fold men of divergent views and traditions who have very little in common except a vague faith;

• The section may apply to Christianity or Islamism but not to Hinduism. Technically speaking Hinduism is neither a religion nor a community;

• Therefore, expenses incurred for worship of Lord Shiva, Hanuman and Goddess Durga and for maintenance of a temple couldn't be regarded to be for religious purpose;

u Therefore, the CIT was directed to grant approval under section 80G(5)(vi) to the assessee-trust. - [2012] 27 taxmann.com 100 (Nagpur - Trib.)

Some interesting Facts>>>>>

1. Sudan Has More Pyramids Than Egypt

Sudan has more pyramids than any other country on Earth - even more than Egypt. There are at least 223 pyramids in the Sudanese cities of Al Kurru, Nuri, Gebel Barkal and Meroë. They are generally 20 to 30 metres (65 -100 ft) high and steep sided.

2. Countries Driving on the Left

Although people in the majority of countries of the world drive on the right side of roads, there are some fifty nations in which people drive on the left. These include England and many former English colonies such as Australia,New Zealand, India...etc... but not the U.S. or Canada. There are several non-English countries where people also drive on the left including Japan.

3. Country With More Horses Than People

The Mongolian horse is the native horse breed of Mongolia. The breed is purported to be largely unchanged since the time of Genghis Khan. Nomads living in the traditional Mongol fashion still hold more than 3 million animals, which outnumber the country's human population (2,75 million). Despite their small size, they are horses, not ponies.

4. The Most Linguistically Diverse Country

Papua New Guinea is the country that is home to the most languages, over 750 in all! The most commonly spoken languages in Papua New Guinea, however, are Motu and pidgin English.

5. Alaska Has Sand Dunes?

The Great Kobuk Sand Dunes lie 40 miles above the Arctic Circle, yet summer temperatures there can soar to 100 degress Fahrenheit! One of Alaska's true oddities, in some places, the sand stands 100 feet high. The three clusters of dunes within the park; the Great Kobuk, the Little Kobuk, and the Hunt River Sand Dunes cover 25 square miles and constitute the largest active sand dunes within arctic latitudes.

6. Strange Windmills in Ireland

All windmills in Ireland turn in a clockwise direction, while the rest of the windmills in the world turn counter-clockwise.

7. London Bridge Over Lake Havasu?

The original London Bridge was shipped stone-by-stone and reconstructed in Lake Havasu City. When the bridge, built in the 1830s began to sink into the Thames River in the 1960s, it was replaced by a more modern concrete bridge. Then, England put the stones up for sale in 1967. A man named Robert P. McCulloch Sr., purchased the bridge on April 17, 1968, at a cost of $2,460,000. The 10,246 blocks were shipped to Arizona and reassembled over a lagoon at the edge Lake Havasu at a cost of $3 Million. The Bridge opened in 1971.

8. The Most Isolated City in the World

Perth, Australia, is the most isolated city on the planet. 200 miles across impenetrable desert from the next city of any size.

9. Power of Amazon River

The Amazon River pushes so much water into the Atlantic Ocean that, more than one hundred miles at sea off the mouth of the river, one can dip fresh water out of the ocean.

10. The World's Longest Train Journey

The Trans-Siberian Railway offers the world's longest train journey. It takes about 7 days to travel the 5,580 miles or 9,000 km between Moscow and Vladivostok.

11. Deforestation

About 22% of the earth's original forest coverage remains. Western Europe has lost 98% or so of its primary forests; Asia 94%; Africa 92%; Oceania 78%; North America 66%, and South America 54%. Approximately 45% of the world's tropical forests, originally covering 1.4 billion hectares, have disappeared in the last few decades.

12. Shortest Intercontinental Commercial Flight

Shortest Intercontinental Commercial Flight in the world is from Gibraltar (Europe) to Tangier (Africa.) Distance is 34 miles, flight time 20 minutes.

13. World's Widest Bridge

According to the Guinness World Records, Sydney Harbour Bridge is the world's widest long-span bridge - 16 lanes of car traffic - 8 lanes in the upper floor, 8 in the lower floor (double-decker bridge). The 49 metre (161ft) wide deck makes Sydney Harbour Bridge the widest long-span bridge in the world. It is also the fifth longest spanning-arch bridge in the world, and it is the tallest steel arch bridge, measuring 134 metres (440 ft) from top to water level.

14. World's Largest Palace Complex

The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost 500 years, it served as the home of emperors and their households, as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government. Built in 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 buildings with 8,707 bays of rooms and covers 720,000 m2 (7,800,000 sq ft). The palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere.

Cows/Bullocks Are Forever: Methane Gas the Answer to the Uncontrollable Rising Oil Import Bills

Cows/Bullocks Are Forever: Methane Gas the Answer to the Uncontrollable Rising Oil Import Bills

In the wake of continuously increasing prices of LPG/Diesel/Petrol, I would like to share a very informative article published as the LEADER ARTICLE in Times of India: By ARUN FIRODIA (The author is chairman, Kinetic Group) way back on Dec 8, 2004. Please spare some time and go through this data-rich, thought-provoking content outlining a solution to this monstrous problem.

Cows/Bullocks Are Forever: Methane Gas the Answer to Oil Imports

Our country has a livestock population of around 250 million, which produces close to 125 million tonnes of cowdung. Using this we can produce enough methane gas to entirely replace LPG/kerosene in cooking, and substitute petrol in transportation. This Gas can also generate electricity to meet requirements, at least in rural areas. The by-product can serve as excellent organic manure, substituting chemical fertilizers which require LNG as feedstock.

The Gobar Gas research station in Uttar Pradesh has established that one Cow gives enough cowdung in a year to produce methane gas equivalent to 225 litres of petrol in energy terms.

The calorific value table would show that one kg of methane gas is more or less equal in energy content to one kg of petrol, LPG, kerosene or diesel.

LPG is generally used for cooking in urban areas while kerosene is the preferred fuel in rural India. A 15 kg LPG cylinder lasts about two months for a family of six. This works out to 15 kg of LPG per capita per year. The same holds true for kerosene. The entire LPG and kerosene requirements of our 100 Crore population can be met by methane gas cylinders, produced from the cowdung of 75 million cows.

Just like CNG, methane gas can be used to run automobile engines in place of petrol. Our petrol consumption last year (2003-04) was eight million tonnes. On the assumption that one cow produces methane gas equivalent to 225 litres of petrol, we will need about 40 million cows to produce an energy equivalent to eight million tonnes of petrol.

A generator needs 200 gm of petrol to produce one kilowatt-hour (kwH) of electrical energy. The per capita electrical energy consumption in rural area is 112 kwH per annum. Our rural population being 74 Crore, we will need another 85 million cows to meet the electrical energy needs of rural areas. This comes to a total of 200 million livestock to satisfy our energy requirements.

Obtaining methane gas from cowdung is simple enough. It consists of an airtight tank filled with raw organic waste like cowdung. The anaerobic decay of this matter generates gobar gas. An agitator quickens the process. The gas is collected in an inverted drum. This gas has 68 per cent methane & 31 per cent carbon dioxide. It is passed through lime water to remove the CO2 & over iron fillings to remove HoS. It then becomes enriched with methane.

The gobar gas plants are available in various sizes, from three cubic metres to 270 cubic metres, costing between Rs 20,000 and Rs 100,000. A compressor can extract and compress this methane gas into portable cylinders. These methane gas cylinders can then be used for cooking, or in automobiles and two wheelers. As much as 50 per cent of the cowdung slurry is available as leftover in the gobar gas plant, which then can be used to produce organic manure rich in nitrogen and phosphorus. The cowdung of 200 million cows can produce 50 million tonnes of manure, which can be used for two rotations in a year to take care of the fertilizer needs of the entire 143 million hectares in the country. This will completely offset the need to import LNG, used as feedstock in fertilizer plants.

If every village (approx. 6.25 lakh villages) has 50 farmer families who maintain just two bullocks and four cows each, the cowdung of these animals can produce enough methane gas to take care of country's entire energy needs, now being met by LPG, kerosene, petrol and LNG. Besides, this livestock can provide rural electricity as well.

The West has already started generating biodiesel in a big way. Even in India, trees like pungan, neem, karanji, ratanjyot or jatropha can be grown to produce oil. A thousand such trees can be planted on one hectare, which will yield 10 tonnes of oilseeds, from which 2.5 tonnes of oil can be extracted. This oil can be converted into biodiesel after esterification and used as fuel in diesel engines. Our annual requirement of diesel oil last year was 38 million tonnes. This amount of biodiesel can be produced by trees planted on 15 million hectares of fallow or wastelands. And, we do have 25 million hectares of fallow land. In other words, we can generate enough biodiesel to meet our entire need of diesel oil.

Methane farming and biodiesel are the Renewable sources to meet our entire energy needs. Why should we import oil from the Gulf or gas in a pipeline via a hostile Pakistan, when we can manage from our resources?

Interesting letter written more than 100 years ago....

Interesting letter written more than 100 years ago....

COMPLAINT LETTER TO THE RAILWAYS IN 1909!!
Okhil Babu's letter to the Railway  department:  
Date: 02 - 07 - 1909
Divisional Railway Officer,
Sahibgunj,

Respected Sirs,

I am arrive by passenger train Ahmedpur station and my belly is too much swelling with jackfruit. I am therefore went to privy. Just I doing the nuisance that guard making whistle blow for train to go off and I am running with lotaah in one hand and dhoti in the next when I am fall over and expose all my shocking to man and female women on platform. I am got leaved at Ahmedpur station. This too much bad, if passenger go to make dung that dam guard not wait train five minutes for him. I am therefore pray your honour to make big fine on that guard for public sake. Otherwise I am making big report to papers.(ORIGINAL LETTER)

Your faithful Servant,
Okhil Chandra Sen

Okhil Babu wrote this letter to the Sahibganj divisional railway officer in 1909. It is on display at the Railway Museum in New Delhi . It was also reproduced under the caption Travellers Tales in the Far Eastern Economic Review.

Any guesses why this letter is of Historic Value?



It led to the introduction of TOILETS in trains in India .....!!!!

Moral : No idea is stupid and should not be discarded. We should always speak up.