Article 27 - Constitution of India - Notes

·         Article 27 prohibits the levying of a tax the proceeds of which are meant specifically for payment of expenses for the promotion or maintenance of any particular religion or religious denomination.

Jagannath Ramanuj Das v State of Orissa (1954)

·         Orissa Hindu Religion Endowments Act, 1939, passed for the better administration and government of certain religion endowments, imposed on every math having an annual income exceeding Rs 250 an annual contribution for meeting the expenses of the Commissioner and the officers and servants working under him.

·         A tax is a common a burden which results in a common benefit. A fee is a payment for some special services rendered for the benefit of those from whom the payment is received. Fees have an element of quid pro quo that taxes lack. Also, the Constitution has made distinct fees from taxes; it has created various lists for legislative purposes all of which identify fees and separate from taxes.

·         The SC held that the annual contribution was a fee and not a tax because the money was levied for specific purpose of paying Commissioner which was part of the machinery set up for the administration of religious affairs within the matha (temple) . The collections were not merged into the general public revenue, nor were they distributed in the manner laid down for appropriation of expenses for other public purposes.

K. Raghunath v. State (1974)

·         Expenditures from the State fund for the reconstruction of the religious and educational places damaged during riots was upheld notwithstanding the fact that the damaged places belonged to any one religion.