9911796707
TMI Blog1999 (2) TMI 723X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... aj Mahal Chhat. Later, at any rate from 1955, these religious festivals and pujas were shifted to an open place belonging to Government, opposite to the Market building. In that year, an informal Committee came into being. Donations were being received for the aforesaid purposes from public as is clear from Exhibit F. With a view to have a permanent place for these pujas, a group of persons from among the organisers of these festivals and pujas, formed into the Durga Puja Samithee and registered it as a Society on 21.1.1960 under the Societies Registration Act 1860 (Act 21 of 1860) with a Memorandum of Association which included cultural and other activities also besides religious activities. The Society then applied to the Government of Orissa for grant of land for conducting these pujas and religious festivals. Government of Orissa granted a lease on 17.9.1960 at Rs. 1 as rent. Initially the lease was for 30 years but it was later extended for over a period of 90 years. In 1977, a part of the land was acquired for road widening but another piece of equal area was granted under a deed Exhibit 5 dated 8.11.1977. In 1965, construction of the Durga Mandap took place on the leasehold ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the Society on 8.9.80. That writ petition was disposed of by staying the order under Section 27 and directing disposal of Society's application under Section 41. 6. Thereafter, the Assistant Commissioner passed an elaborate Order on 6.3.1981 declaring the temples in which the deities were installed, as a public temple. The Society was declared as the hereditary trustee. But so far as the remaining part of the leasehold land and the buildings thereon were concerned, it was held that they were not part of the endowment. There were two appeals FA No. 17/84 and FA 20 of 1984 to the Deputy Commissioner, one by the Hindu Public and the other by the Society. The Deputy Commissioner, by order dated 30.12.1989, allowed the appeal of the Hindu Public and held that the temples as well as the remaining land and buildings were part of the endowment. The FA 17/84 was allowed and FA 20/84 was dismissed. 7. Against the said order of the Deputy Commissioner the Society filed two appeals namely Misc. Appeals 88 and 89 of 1990. The High Court allowed the appeals in part and in effect, restored the orders of the Assistant Commissioner stating that: (i) places where deities Sri Bhubaneswa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ery premises since 1949 and if so, whether the inclusion of certain social and cultural purposes in the aims and objects of the Society at the time of its subsequent registration in i960,- along with the religious activities - was intended to transform the nature of the trust from religious into one of a secular character? (3) Whether a temple located on lease hold land could not be a public temple? (4) Whether the High Court was right in setting aside the order of the Deputy Commissioner in part and restricting the public trust only to the temples and not to the library, mandap, pandal, shops and other constructions and in virtually restoring the order of the Assistant Commissioner? Point 1: 12. Learned Counsel for the Society contended in the Society's Appeals that no Society could be registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 for 'religious purposes' either in whole or in part, inasmuch as the said purposes would not be 'charitable purposes' falling within the preamble to the Societies Registration Act, 1860 (Act 21 of 1860) and Sections 1 and 20 of the said Act. 13. The Preamble to the above Act reads as follows: Whereas it is ex ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... asjiday Mehmood Jamait Managing committee, Puddupet AIR 1940 Mad 167. A Division Bench consisting of Wadsworth and Venkataramana Rao, JJ. held that the Act 21/1860 was passed in 1860 when, according to English law, a gift for the advancement of religion or promotion of religious worship was treated as a charitable purpose and, therefore, a society formed for such a purpose would be a charitable society under Act 21/1860. The only condition was that it should be for the benefit of the public. No doubt, in some statutes enacted subsequent to Act 21 of 1860, the legislature used the words 'charitable' and 'religious' but the definition of these words was expressly stated to be for the purposes of those Acts. The subsequent legislation, the Madras High Court held, would not be helpful in interpreting the words 'charitable' in Act 21 of 1860. The real question was: What did the term mean in 1860 ? We are in agreement with the view of the Allahabad and Madras High Courts. In fact, Lord McNaughten in his celebrated judgment in Commissioner of Income Tax v. Pemsel 1891 AC 531 said that charitable purposes which came within the language and spirit of the statute of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... igious in character. The aims and objects of the Society read as follows: (a) The Samittee shall, as far as practicable, provide common place for meeting of the members of the Samittee, for purposes of recreation, discussion of literary, cultural and common problems, encouragement of thrift, advancement of social welfare ideas and protection of the interests of its members. (b) celebrate social festivals like Durga Puja etc., advance other objects, provide facilities like Mandap, Temple, Parks, Educational, Mental and Physical Institutions, Library, Charitable dispensary, rest rooms and commercial centers for the interest of the members. 17. learned Counsel for the Society contended that even though para (b) of the aims and objects referred to Durga Puja etc., still para (a) dealt with several secular activities and further, the concluding words in para (b), namely, 'for the interest of the members' meant that the Durga Puja etc. were restricted to members only. 18. In our view, the fact that the membership of the Society was not restricted to any particular religious community makes no difference. Membership is one thing and nature of the property which the Soc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ued to show that the Society's main concern was the celebration of the Durga puja festivals etc. and that other activities were subsidiary. Therefore, the Deputy Commissioner was right in relying on this part of the oral evidence. 21. Eleven years after the Society was formed, the appeal Ex. F was issued for donations. It reveals that the main purpose of the Society was the construction of temples and celebration of these festivals. It states: Although for last so many days, Sri Sri Sri Durga Puja is being performed here, yet no special effort has been made for construction of a permanent mandap and temples for other gods and Goddesses. Although major population in the capital is Hindu, yet it is regrettable that a permanent mandap and temples of other Gods and Goddesses have not yet been established here. On the other hand, minority communities like Muslims, christians and Sikhs have already constructed beautiful permanent Mosque, Church and Gurudwara. But it has not yet been possible for we Hindus. It is most regrettable. 22. In addition, we have the Report of the General Secretary of the year 1973 which refers to various activities of the Society. Except the religio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and the addition of the aims and activities in para (a) was not intended to change the basic religious character of the trust. 25. From the above material, it is clear that the temples established were intended to be public temples in which every member of the Hindu community was entitled to enter as of right and entry was not restricted to the members of the Society. Point 2 is held against the Society. Point 3: 26. It was argued for the Society, that a temple in order to be a public temple must be constructed in land of which the founders were owners and in case the land was leasehold land, it must be held that it was not intended to be a public temple. According to him there cannot be a public trust whose life will be coterminous with the expiry of the term of a leasehold land. 27. On facts, we do not find any substance in this contention. It is an admitted fact that the Government granted a lease of land for 90 years in 1960. Assuming that the preposition contended for is correct, we are of the view that the said proposition cannot apply to land leased for as long a period as 90 years. The point is rejected. Point 4: 28. It was contended for the 'Hindu Pub ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to Sastras and in Dharmasala at Bhubaneswar. So a small Dharmasala and a library of religious books are essential for them .... ...there is no permanent public pandal for religious meetings ....Those religious institutions who need an office here, the same can be constructed for them at their expenses. On that basis, public donations were called for. The above appeal, in our view, clinchingly establishes that the mandap, shops, garden, library and Dharmsala or guest house and office rooms etc. were all meant for religious purposes of the Hindu community. There is not a whisper in this appeal of any secular purposes or purposes of other than religious. 30. In our view, the Deputy Commissioner was right in holding that the leasehold land, the temples, the mandap, the library, the guest house or Dharmsala, the office and shops, all of them, formed the endowment. The Deputy Commissioner was, right in rejecting all the contentions of the Society and in appointing non- hereditary trustees under Section 27 of the Endowment Act. 31. For the aforesaid reasons, Civil Appeal No. 2546 of 1992 is allowed and the Civil Appeals Nos. 2547-48 of 1992 are dismissed. The order of the Dep ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
