The Shikshan Prasarak Mandali, Pune has decided to appeal against the Income tax department’s decision to cancel registration of the Mandali as a charitable trust’. Anant Mate, vice-chairman of the Mandali, said, “We have been given a month’s time to respond. We will appeal with the I-T tribunal on the department’s order. Our lawyer Madhav Yerawadekar has already started working on the procedures.”
The Shikshan Prasarak Mandali runs several prominent institutes in the city and Mumbai including the Ramnarain Ruia College, RA Poddar College of Commerce and Economics and Wellingkar Institute in Mumbai, besides the SP College, Narlikar Institute, the SPM school among others in Pune. The tax concessions it used to get under sections 80G and 12 (A) of the Income Tax Act have been cancelled.
Mate said, “Five years ago, the concessions the Mandali gets under 80G were cancelled by the Commissioner of Income Tax, Pune. We appealed against the order and got it quashed. The CIT appealed against this decision which was dismissed by the Tribunal. We are confident that this time around also we will win the case.”
The Commissioner of Income Tax (CIT), Pune, on September 17, cancelled the charitable trust’ recognition of the 125-year old institution after it concluded that the activities of the Mandali are not genuine. Simar Singh Negi, CIT, Pune said in the order: “I propose to cancel the registration granted to the Mandali u/s 12A as I am of the opinion that the activities of the Mandali are not genuine and the activities are not being carried out in accordance with the objects of the Mandali.”
During a search, a sum of Rs 12 lakh was seized out of such donations. However, the Mandali has denied these allegations.
The order further says: “A search was carried on the premises of the Society at Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Laboratory in Sion, Mumbai on July 21, 2008, and the documents seized during the course of the search, the statement of the vice-chairman and the statements of a number of parents, all go to show that some of the educational institutes run by the Society were charging huge donations for giving admission to the students. It is therefore clear that these institutes were not existing solely for educational purposes and were being run on commercial lines with profit motive.”
Negi’s order further said, “The objects of the society do not provide for running of educational institutions with a profit motive. The objects also do not provide for collections of donation/capitation fees which is an illegal activity.”
