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TMI Blog1959 (4) TMI 25X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rred to the High Court by an order made by it tinder Art. 228 of the Constitution. The Petitioners in the writ petitions and the plaintiffs in the suit challenged the constitutional validity of the Act on certain grounds to which we shall presently refer. The petitions and the suit were contested by the State of Bihar and/or the President, Bihar State Board of Religious ,trusts, who are now respondents before us. The High Court in three separate judgments, two dated October 5, 1953, and the third dated October 8, 1953, held that the Act was a valid piece of legislation and on that main finding dismissed the writ petitions and the suit. The petitioners and the plaintiff-,, appellants before us, applied for and obtained certificates from the High Court under Art. 132 of the Constitution to the effect that the cases involved substantial questions of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution and the appeals have been brought to this Court in pursuance of those certificates. The facts lie within a very narrow compass. In Civil Appeal No. 225 of 1955 the appellant is Mahant Moti Das, and he alleged that he was the Mahant of a math or astral situate in village Parbatta, district ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sions infringe the appellants' fundamental rights guaranteed under (a) Art. 14; (b) Art. 19 (1)(f); and (e) Arts. 25, 26 and 27 of the Constitution. The Act has also been impugned on the ground that it imposes an Unauthorised tax and also contravenes Art. 133 of the Constitution. At this stage, it is necessary to advert to the object or purpose of the Act and set out the relevant provisions thereof The Act was passed by the Bihar Legislature and received the assent of the President,, which assent was published in the Bihar Gazette on February 21, 1951. The long title of the Act and the preamble give the object of the Act. The long title says that it is an "Act to provide for the better administration of Hindu Religious Trusts and for the protection and preservation of properties appertaining to such trusts." The preamble repeats the same object or purpose, and makes it further clear that the Act is meant to provide for the better administration of Hindu Religious Trusts in the State of Bihar. Section I gives the short title, and provides for extent and commencement, the Act having come into force on August 15, 1951. Section 2 is the definition section, and the word ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tes to the power and duties of the Board. Section 28 (1) provides that the general superintendence of all religious trusts in the State shall be vested in the Board and the Board shall do all things reasonable and necessary to ensure that such trusts are properly supervised and administered and that the income' thereof is duly appropriated and applied to the objects of such trusts and in accordance with the purposes for which such trusts were founded and for which they exist. Section 28 (2) enumerates in great detail the powers and duties of the Board in regard to certain matters. Section 28(2)(e), for example, states that the duty of the Board shall be to cause inspection to be made of the property and the office of any religious trust including accounts and to authorise the Superintendent or any of its members, officers or servants for that purpose. Section 28(2)(g) empowers the Board to give directions for the proper administration of a religious trust in accordance with the law governing such trust and the wishes of the founder in so far as such wishes can be ascertained. Section 32 empowers the Board to settle a scheme for the proper administration of religious trusts. Cha ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... inge Art. 14 of the Constitution. It is pointed out that the definition of the word ' Hindu' in s. 2 does riot include Sikhs; and s. 5 constitutes a Board for religious trusts other than Jain religious trusts, and also two separate Boards-one for Swetambar Jain religious trusts and the other for Digambar Jain religious trusts. It is further pointed out that under ss. 6, 7 and 8 the constitution of the Board for religious trusts other than Jain religious trusts differs in material particulars from the constitution of the two Boards for Jain religious trusts. The submission is that there is inequality of treatment as between Hindu religious trusts on one hand and Sikh religious trusts on the other, the latter having been excluded from the purview of the Act; secondly, there is inequality of treatment even as between Hindu religious trusts and Jain religious trusts, though both come under the Act. We do not think that there is any substance in this contention. The provisions of Art. 14 of the Constitution had come up for discussion before this Court in a number of earlier cases (see the cases referred to in Shri Ram Krishna Dalmia v. Shri Justice S. R. Tendolkar [1959] S.C.R. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... trusts in Bihar, and their organization is essentially different. Jains consist of two main branches-Swetambar Jains and Digambar Jains-and each branch has a separate central organisation. Section 8 of the Act recognises these differences; for example, there is an assembly' of Swetambar Jains known as Shree Sangh and under s. 8(2)(c) of, the Act the Shree Sangh is entitled to elect five per-. sons to the Board of Swetambar Jain Religious Trust. Similarly, Digambar Jains also have an assembly known as the Digambar Samaj and under s. 8(3)(c) of the Act this assembly is entitled to elect five persons to the Board for Digambar Jain Religious Trust. In view of these differences it cannot be said that in the matter of religious trusts in the State of Bihar, Sikhs, Hindus and Jains are situated alike or that the needs of the Jains and Hindus are the same in the matter of the administration of their respective religious trusts; therefore, according to the well established principles laid down by this court with regard to legislative classification, it was open to the Bihar Legislature to exclude Sikhs who might have been in no need of protection and to distinguish between Hindus and Ja ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ). In Angurbala Mullick v. Debabrata Mullick ([1951] S.C.R. 1125, 1133) Mukherjea, J., delivering the majority judgment of this Court, has said that the exact legal position of a, shebait may not be capable of precise definition, but its implications are fairly well established. It is now settled that the relation of a shebait in regard to debutter property is not that of a trustee to trust property under the English law. Mukherjea, J., said : " In English law the legal estate in the trust property vests in the trustee who holds it for the benefit of cestui que trust. In a Hindu religious endowment on the other hand the entire ownership of the dedicated property is transferred to the deity or the institution itself as a juristic person and the shebait or mahant is a mere manager. But though a shebait is a manager and not a trustee in the technical sense, it would not be correct to describe the shebaitship as a mere office. The shebait has not only duties to discharge in connection with the endowment, but he has a beneficial interest in the debutter property............ In almost all such endowments the shebait has a share in the usufruct of the debutter property which depe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e Act on the power of the trustees are really intended, as the preamble of the Act states, for the better administration of Hindu religious trusts in the State of Bihar and for the protection and preservation of properties appertaining to such trusts. It is indeed true that the Act provides a better and more speedy remedy for the enforcement of the obligations and duties imposed on the trustees than the lengthy and cumbrous procedure of a suit under s. 92 of the Civil Procedure Code. The Board is vested with summary powers in various matters, but the control is to be exercised for the better and more efficient administration of the trust and for the protection and preservation of the trust properties. It is germane to refer in this connection to sub-s. (1) of s. 28 which states that the Board shall do all things reasonable and necessary to ensure that the religious trusts are properly supervised and administered and that the income thereof is duly appropriated and applied to the objects of such trusts and in accordance with the purposes for which such trusts were founded. Section 60 (2) no doubt empowers the Board to alter or modify the budget of any religious trust in such manner ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... wamiar of Shri Shirur Mutt ([1954] S.C.R. 1005) and Mahant Shri Jagannath Ramanuj Das v. The State of Orissa ([1954] S.C.R. 1046), and were held to be invalid on the ground that they were not reasonable restrictions within the meaning of el. (5) of Art. 19 of the Constitution. The third contention of the appellants rests upon Arts. 25 and 26 of the Constitution. The appellants have invoked in aid Art. 25 (1) which says inter alia, that subject to public order, morality and health, all persons have the right freely to profess, practice and propagate religion. Article 26 is also relied on for the contention that every religious denomination or any section thereof has a, right (a) to establish and maintain institutions for religious and charitable purposes and (b) to manage its own affairs in matters of religion. It is difficult to see how any of the provisions of the Act can be said to interfere with the right guaranteed by Art. 25, viz., freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practice and propagate religion. Learned counsel for the appellants has not been able to point out to us any particular provision of the Act which interferes with such a right. On behalf of th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... .C.R. 895), where following the earlier decision in The Commisssioner, Hindu Religious Endowments, Madras v. Sri Lakshmindra Thirtha Swamiar of Sri Shirur Mutt ([1954] S.C.R. 1005), it was observed that matters of religion included even practices which are ,regarded; by'-the community as part of its religion. Our attention has also been drawn to Ratilal Panachand Gandhi v. The State of Bombay [1954] S.C.R. 1046 in which it has been held that a religious sect or denomination has the right to manage its own affairs in matters of religion and this includes the right to spend the trust property or its income for religion and for religious purposes and objects indicated by the founder of the trust or established by usage obtaining in a particular institution. It was further held therein that to divert the trust property or funds for purposes which the charity commissioner or the court considered expedient or proper, although the original objects of the founder could still be carried out, was an unwarranted encroachment on the freedom of religious institutions in regard to the management of their religious affairs. We do not think that the aforesaid decisions afford any assistance to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n 49 is not the fostering or preservation of the Hindu religion or of any denomination within it; the purpose is to see that religious trusts and institutions wherever they exist are properly administered. It is the secular administration of the religious institutions that the legislature seeks to control and the object, as enunciated in the Act, is to ensure that the endowments attached to the religious institutions are properly administered and their income is duly appropriated for purposes for which they were founded or exist. As there is no question of favouring any particular religion or religious denomination, article 27 could not possibly apply." These observations apply with equal force to the present case. It has also been argued that s. 55 (2) of the Act contravenes Art. 133 of the Constitution and is accordingly invalid. Section 55 is in these terms: 55 (1). "Unless otherwise provided in this Act, an appeal shall lie to the High Court against every order passed by the District Judge under this Act. (2) No appeal shall lie from any order passed in appeal under this section." We do not think that s. 55 (2) of the Act overrides or is intended to override ..... 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