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TMI Blog1944 (8) TMI 16X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e, that the temple owned only about one acre of nanja land in cusba Chidambaram, which fetched an annual rent of about 15 to 20 kalams of paddy, that it had no other source of income, that the temple was maintained only by the private munificence of the respondents and that they were not accountable. The respondents also denied the allegations of mismanagement and breaches of trust and claimed to be the hereditary trustees of the temple not liable to be removed. The Court below held that the appellant was not entitled to sue as a person having interest in the temple and that he had failed to prove that the respondents or any of them committed any of the acts of misfeasance or malfeasance alleged in the plaint, and dismissed the suit. 2. At the previous hearing of the appeal this Court held that the appellant came within the definition of a person having interest in Section 9, Sub-section 9, of the aforesaid Act and was thus entitled to sue and, finding that the trial was neither complete nor satisfactory, set aside the dismissal of the suit and referred the case back to the lower Court for trial on the following issues : (?) Whether any amounts or properties have been dedicate ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as legal representative of deft. 4. 5. Before dealing with the issues as to the extent of the temple properties and the accountability of the respondents for the management thereof, it will be convenient to consider the claim for their removal from trusteeship. At the retrial after remand numerous charges of misfeasance and breach of trust were raised against the respondents, but the learned District Judge after an elaborate investigation found that, though there has been some irregularity, no serious charge involving dishonest or fraudulent conduct Was brought home to the members of the respondents' family, and he has recorded his general impression that they had, on the whole, dealt with the temple honestly and fairly. We may state at once that, after hearing Mr. Swaminatha Ayyar, the appellant's learned Counsel, at considerable length we agree with the learned Judge's conclusion and share his impression. Most of the charges of suppression of temple funds and misappropriation thereof based upon entries in the accounts produced by the respondents turned out, on a careful scrutiny of the accounts, to be altogether unfounded, their formulation appearing in many cases ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d it, was improper. Mr. Rajah Ayyar, while making no attempt to justify such conduct, submitted that it was probably inspired by an anxiety to make it appear that the temple was a petty temple not worth the trouble of supervision and control by the Board or by the Court, and that it was certainly not due to any dishonest intention to appropriate temple property. The learned Counsel also pointed out that the prominent members of the family who were mainly responsible for the ill-advised denial of the trust, viz., the fourth defendant and the first respondent, were both dead and that the other respondents, beyond adopting the written statement filed by the fourth defendant in this suit, did not actively take part in such denial at any time before suit. These submissions are not without force and, while we are not prepared to acquit the respondents altogether of improper conduct, we consider, agreeing with the learned District Judge, that it does not justify their removal from the office of Dharmakarta--of. Sivasankara v. Vedagiri I.L.R. (1889) Mad. 6. 7. It is unnecessary to go into the details of the dispute regarding the Immovable properties belonging to the temple. As has been ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... (₹ 1,859-13-0 as on 16th September, 1909) and uchikala kattalai (₹ 4,634-7-3 as on 4th September, 1909), and in the Madras account a sum of ₹ 1,404-11-0 stands credited as on 6th September, 1906, in the folio headed kattalai account of Elamaiyakkinar temple, Chidambaram. As the first mentioned amount is by far the largest, the controversy centred mainly round that item but, as the respondents' answer to all these claims is substantially the same, the main consideration relevant to that item apply to the other items as well. It may be mentioned here that, though the entry relating to the uchikala kattalai would seem to show that one Sigappi Achi was the donor, it is in evidence that she was the paternal aunt of the fifth defendant and that, after she died without issue, her stri-dhanam properties reverted, according to custom among the Nattukottai Chetti community, to her parents' family, i.e., to the respondents' family who caused the credit entries to be made in her name. On 4th October, 1899 an account headed pooja paditharam of Elamaiyakkinar Kovil at Chidambaram was opened in the Rangoon books and a sum of ₹ 3,000 was credited the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... talai account. The books of the Rangoon business for the year 1899 in which the entry was made are not forthcoming, but the oorkadai or the headquarters accounts relating to the period have been produced. In these accounts the amount is credited to the Rangoon business and debited as an expense on 15th November, 1899. The entry runs thus : Credit-again as on the said date (i.e., 19th Purattasi Vikari corresponding to 4th October, 1899) for the pooja paditharam of Rouvaneswarar (i.e., the principal deity) at Chidambaram ₹ 2,000 and for the pooja paditharam of Visveswarar, Visalakshi and Mandikeswarar (subsidiary deities in the suit temple) ₹ 1,000, by one hundi, bearing half per cent, interest written and given--₹ 3,000. The debit entry in the account is in similar terms with the words for purchasing village added at the end. It is clear from these entries that at Rangoon the amount must have been credited to the pooja paditharam account and debited to oor, an inference supported by the similar entries relating to the deepa kattalai made in the year 1907 for which the Rangoon books are produced. A sum of ₹ 1,600 was then credited to that kattalai and d ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... effectual transfer of funds to het temple? 10. There are three modes in which a voluntary transfer of property in favour of a temple can be validly and effectually made. Firstly, by dedication of the property directly to the deity. This mode is sanctioned by Hindu law and needs no compliance with the provisions of the Transfer of Property Act, there being no transfer of property to a living person within the meaning of Section 5 of that Act. (See Gangi Reddi v. Tammi Reddi, Sooniram Ramniranjandass v. Alagu Nachiyar Koil (1939) 1 M.L.J. 192 : (1939) Rang. L.R. 59, and Narasimha Swami v. Venkatalingam AIR1927Mad636 ) The subject-matter of a dedication must, however, be some specific property or asset and a mere credit entry in a book of account cannot be the subject of a dedication. Secondly, property may be transferred by way of gift to the trustee or trustees of a temple. Such a transfer, being one made to a living person, must comply with the requirements of Section 123 of the Transfer of Property Act and can only be effected, in the case of moveable property, by a registered instrument duly executed or by delivery. There being no registered instrument here, Mr. Swamina ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... es of all beneficial interest and undertaken the obligations of trustees. A credit entry in favour of a charity which does not correspond to an allocation of the sum credited can amount to no more than a promise to give the sum and, as observed by West, J., in Hirbai v. Jan Mahomed Khalakdina I.L.R. (1881) Bom. 229, to promise a thing is not to hold it in trust. The periodical crediting of interest in the same account on which Mr. Swaminatha Aiyar laid stress is no more consistent with a completed gift or perfected trust than with a simple promise to give. On the other hand, the fact that the respondents made no entries in the temple accounts kept by them at Chidambaram corresponding to the credits in their own Rangoon books is certainly more consistent with the supposition of an intention to give than of a gift or trust. Further more, on the latter supposition, the respondents would clearly be guilty of a breach of trust in employing temple funds in their own business, a thing not to be readily assumed. For all these reasons we must hold that there was no dedication or gift or trust of the sums (other than those received from strangers) appearing in the accounts of the pooja padit ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nsented to be debtors would not only be unjustified, but would be inconsistent with their intentions as manifested by their conduct in making no allocation of any assets, in using their whole funds in their business as before and in computing interest at a rate and in a manner applicable to an ordinary customer. 12. As regards the contention based on the Hindu law of dedication their Lordships made the following remarks: The same reasons are equally forceful to disprove the suggestion that the entries effect an endowment of property for the deity. The first question to be asked on that suggestion is, what property has been made debutter or charged in favour of the idol? The second is what proof is there of any such intention? As an interpretation of the conduct of the insolvent firm the theory of endowment breaks down as completely as does the theory that the firm intended to declare itself trustees for These passages would seem to show that, in their Lordships' opinion, an allocation of specific property or fund to charity is essential both for effecting an endowment under the Hindu law and for creating a valid trust. 13. In the other case, a person who was the propri ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... no prayer in the plaint that scheme should be settled for the proper management of the temple and its properties, Mr. Swaminatha Aiyar pressed upon us the desirability of this Court framing a scheme in view of the irregularities brought to light and the conduct of the respondents in denying the existence of trust properties which have now been established to be substantial. Mr. Rajah Ayyar, however, has raised a question as to the power of the Court to grant such relief in this suit which has been brought under Section 73 of the Madras Hindu Religious Endowments Act, while making it clear that the respondents have no objection to a proper scheme being framed for the management of the temple and its properties. There can be no doubt as to the desirability of settling a scheme providing for the due administration of the temple and its endowments and for the exercise of adequate supervision over the management. But, having carefully considered the question raised by Mr. Rajah Ayyar, we are constrained to come to the conclusion that the Court has no power to settle a scheme in a suit brought under Section 73 of the Madras Hindu Religious Endowments Act. 17. It is well known that, be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... yyangar and Kunhi Raman, JJ.) where a decree settling a scheme for Sri Vedanayagi Amman Temple and Patasala Trust was passed (Appeal Suit No. 281 of 1938) in a suit instituted with the consent of the Advocate-General under Section 92 of the Code of Civil Procedure and also with the sanction of the Board under Section 73 of the Madras Act II of 1927. The trust was there described as a composite trust for the thiruppani of the temple and the maintenance of the patasala at Vedaranyam and no objection was raised., apparently, to the Court's power to settle a scheme for such a trust, for there is no discussion of the question in the judgment of the learned Judges. We cannot therefore regard the case as an authority in point. 20. In the course of the argument before us reference was frequently made to a patasala known as the Elamaiyakkinar Koil Veda Patasala situated at Chidambaram. Nothing was said in the plaint about this patasala or the properties attached to it nor was any mention made of it at the original hearing of the appeal before us. At the enquiry in the Court below after the remand, questions relating to the patasala were sought to be raised by the appellant b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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