Charity - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition charity

Definition :

Charity, the word 'charity' which in common parlance is a word denoting a giving to some one in necessitous circumstances and in law a giving for public good. A private gift to one's own self or kith and kin may be meritorious and pious but is not a charity in the legal sense and the courts in India have never regarded such gifts as for religious or charitable purposes even under the Mahomedan Law, Fazlul Rabbi Pradhan v. State of West Bengal, AIR 1965 SC 1722 (1727). [West Bengal Estates Acquisition Act, 1953 (1 of 1954), s. 6(1)(i)]

Aid given to the poor, the suffering, or the general community for religious, educational, economic, public-safety, or medical purposes, Black's Law Dictionary, 7th Edn., p. 228.

Charity, means any institution, trust or undertaking, whether corporate or not, which is established solely for charitable purposes, (English) Banking Act, 1987; (Exempt Transactions) Regulations, 1988, reg. 3(2); Halsbury's Laws of England, Vol. 3(1), para 30, p. 26.