Under the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation Act, 1981 lands and buildings of charitable hospitals and dispensaries are exempted from payment of property tax. The assessee claimed exemption under the Act in respect of hospital run by it which was denied. On writ dismissing the petition, the Court held that the expression “charitable hospitals and dispensaries” had not been defined in the enactment. The word “charity” means relief to poor. The exemption under the Income-tax Act, 1961 is confined to hospitals existing solely for philanthropic purposes and not for the purpose of profit and which is wholly or substantially financed by the Government. Where a society or body is making systematic profits, even though a portion of the profits is utilised only for charitable purposes, it cannot be said that it could claim exemption. Under section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013 and the provisions of Companies Act, 1956, companies enjoying the profits were/are required to contribute for public cause as corporate social responsibility. The amount that has to be spent towards corporate social responsibility is out of profits. However, that does not make such company a “charitable institution”. A reading of the objects of the society indicated that the object of the hospital was not purely charitable in nature. The fact that the memorandum of the society itself authorised collection of charges from the persons receiving treatment in hospital, nursing school and work rooms indicated that the assessee’s object was not a charitable hospital. The records filed before the court did not indicate that the assessee had obtained a section 12A certificate from the Commissioner under the provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1961. There were no records to show that even the Income-tax Department had allowed exemption under section 11 of the Act, to the assessee. The assessee’s claim for exemption under section 123(e) of the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation Act, 1981 was not justified.