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EFFECT
OF REGISTRATION / NON-REGISTRATION OF A SOCIETY
The
Societies Registration Act, 1860 lays down procedure for registration
of societies for various bonafide purposes.
The registration
gives the society a legal status and is essential
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for
opening bank accounts,
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obtaining
registration and approvals under Income Tax Act,
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lawful
vesting properties of societies, and
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gives
recognition to the society at all forums and before all authorities.
When
the society is registered, it and its members become bound to the
same extent, as if each member had signed the memorandum.
A society,
registered under this Act, must confine its activities to the sphere
embraced by its objects.
A tax
imposed on a society is one imposed on the society and not on its
members.
A society
registered under the Act enjoys the status of a legal entity apart
from the members constituting it. A society so registered is a legal
person just as an individual but with no physical existence. As
such it can acquire and hold property and can sue and be sued.
The
society should be registered under the Act to acquire the status
of juridical person.
In the
absence of registration, all the trustees in
charge of the fund have alone a legal status and the society has
no legal status, and, therefore, it cannot sue and be sued. A non-registered
society may exist in fact but not in law. It is immaterial under
the Act whether the society is registered but where the benefit
is claimed, the registration of society under the Act us required.
An unregistered society cannot claim benefits under the Income-tax
act.
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