Case Note & Summary
The appeal arose from an order dated 19 May 2016 passed by the Joint Charity Commissioner, Mumbai, in Application No. 74/2015 under Sections 47 and 41-A of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950, by which ten Trustees-Administrators and nine Co-opted Administrators were appointed for the trust Vishwa Punarnirman Sangha, Nagpur. The trust runs a school, Bharti Krishna Vidya Vihar, with about 2500 students and 150 staff. Its constitution provides for an Administrative Body of Trustees-Administrators and Co-opted Administrators, ordinarily totaling 19 persons. The application was filed by Alka Sahani, who claimed to be the recorded Secretary, and other interested persons, alleging that all change reports filed before the Assistant Charity Commissioner had been rejected, outsiders were interfering, and it was necessary to appoint trustees to safeguard the trust's properties and streamline administration. Recorded trustees (non‑applicants) opposed the application, contending that the Sangha had its own constitution, elections were held, change reports were filed, and a regular administrative body existed. They also alleged financial irregularities against the first applicant. During the proceedings, interveners (appellants herein) filed applications under Section 73(A) for impleadment, which the Joint Charity Commissioner kept pending and later disposed of as infructuous upon deciding the main application. The Joint Charity Commissioner, after considering the record and an inspection report, found that only three recorded trustees survived, all change reports claiming new trustees had been rejected, and that under the constitution, a quorum of nine was required for administrative meetings, which was not met. Relying on Nawalchand Champalal Chaudhari v. Joint Charity Commissioner, the Commissioner held that jurisdiction under Section 47 arose once the number of legal trustees fell below the minimum prescribed, and therefore appointed the new body. In the High Court, a Single Judge, on 19 October 2016, relying on Vanmala Manoharrao Kamdi v. Deputy Charity Commissioner, observed that orders under Section 41‑A are administrative in nature, and accordingly referred the matter to a Division Bench to decide the maintainability of the appeal. The Division Bench heard arguments on 23 February 2021. (The excerpt of the judgment provided does not contain the final decision or reasons of the Division Bench.)
Headnote
A) Trust Law - Appointment of Trustees - Jurisdiction under Section 47 of Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950 - Joint Charity Commissioner found that only three recorded trustees survived, all change reports had been rejected, and the surviving trustees did not form the requisite quorum as per Clause 72 of the Constitution - Held that once the strength of legal trustees falls below the minimum number, the Commissioner’s jurisdiction under Section 47 is attracted (Paras 9).
B) Trust Law - Charity Commissioner's Powers - Section 41-A of Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950 - Single Judge referred matter to Division Bench relying on Vanmala Kamdi case which held that directions under Section 41-A are administrative in nature and not judicial - Thus, appealability of such orders required consideration by Division Bench (Paras 1).
Issue of Consideration
Whether the appeal against the order of Joint Charity Commissioner is maintainable given that directions under Section 41-A are administrative in nature, and whether the Joint Charity Commissioner was justified in appointing trustees under Section 47 of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950 when only three recorded trustees survived and all change reports had been rejected
Final Decision
Decision not clearly stated
Law Points
- Legal points not extracted
- once the strength of legal trustees falls below the minimum number as laid down in the constitution
- the Joint Charity Commissioner assumes jurisdiction under Section 47 of the MPT Act to appoint trustees
- quorum for administrative meeting must be fulfilled
- directions under Section 41-A of the MPT Act are administrative in nature and not judicial
Case Details
2021 LawText (BOM) (04) 84
First Appeal No. 600 of 2016
A.S. Chandurkar, Pushpa V. Ganediwala
Shri R.L. Khapre, Senior Advocate assisted by Shri M.M. Dhandekar for the appellants; Shri C.S. Kaptan, Senior Advocate assisted by Shri U.A. Gosavi for respondent Nos. 8 & 26; Shri A.S. Jaiswal, Senior Advocate assisted by Mrs. Radhika Bajaj for respondent No. 18; Shri N.A. Gaikwad for respondent No. 12; Shri V.V. Bhangde for respondent No. 14; Shri Anand Parchure for respondent No. 13; Shri S.Y. Deopujari for respondent Nos. 19 & 27; Shri A.P. Thakre for respondent Nos. 20 to 23; Shri S.P. Bhandarkar for respondent No. 24; Ms. T. Khan, A.G.P. for respondent Nos. 28 & 29
Chandrakant s/o Jaydevshankar Thakar (deleted), Jagjeet Singh Gurusharan Singh, Deepak Arora, Amitabh Motiram Pawde, Ashok Mohta, Chandrakant Ragit, Abhishek Mohta, Madan Tiwari, Chandrakant Mantri, Mrs. Archana Chaudhary, Capt. K.M. Nandyal, Shri Narendra s/o Kantilal Jha
1. Smt. Alka Sahani, 2. Dr. R.H. Limse, 3. Smt. Anubhuti Singh, 4. Shri Amol Hansraj Khante, 5. Shri R.H. Bhangu, 6. Shri Sanjay Anwane, 7. Dr. Pramila Vyavahare, 8. Shri Ashwin Krushnarao Ghatate, 9. R.S. Pandit (deceased), 10. Swaraj Goel, 11. Indra Tripathi, 12. Shailesh Sudhir Joglekar, 13. Sanjay Sudhir Joshi, 14. Shri Satish Vasant Salpekar, 15. Col. Ash Bahadur Gurung, 16. Shri Prafulla Kumar Kale, 17. Shri Avinash Ganpatra Shegaonkar, 18. Abhiram Padmakar Deshmukh, 19. Mrs. Malini Mangesh Joshi, 20. Dr. Ravindra Prabhakar Bhoyar, 21. Shri Rajendra R. Deshmukh, 22. Shri Nirbhay Shankarrao Bhandarkar, 23. Shri Rajendra Manohar Dandekar, 24. Mrs. Shalini Sanjay Arora, 25. Shri Rohit Prakash Somalwar, 26. Shri Tarun Devsi Patel, 27. Shri Harshal Uddhav Aarvikar, 28. Joint Charity Commissioner, Nagpur, 29. Joint Charity Commissioner, Mumbai
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Nature of Litigation
Appeal against the order of Joint Charity Commissioner appointing trustees and administrators to a public trust due to insufficient number of surviving trustees and rejection of change reports
Remedy Sought
Appellants (intervenors in the original proceeding) challenged the order of the Joint Charity Commissioner appointing 19 trustees/administrators for the trust Vishwa Punarnirman Sangha
Filing Reason
The Joint Charity Commissioner allowed Application No. 74/2015 under Sections 47 and 41-A, finding that only three recorded trustees survived and no valid change report existed, thereby appointing a new managing body
Previous Decisions
On 19 May 2016, Joint Charity Commissioner, Mumbai, allowed the application and appointed trustees. On 19 October 2016, a Single Judge of the High Court referred the appeal to Division Bench in view of the decision in Vanmala Kamdi case holding that orders under Section 41-A are administrative
Issues
Whether the appeal against the order of Joint Charity Commissioner is maintainable given that directions under Section 41-A are administrative in nature?
Whether the Joint Charity Commissioner was justified in exercising jurisdiction under Section 47 of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950 to appoint trustees when only three recorded trustees survived and change reports were rejected?
Submissions/Arguments
Applicants before Joint Charity Commissioner contended that change reports were rejected, outsiders were interfering, and appointment of trustees was necessary to protect trust properties and streamline administration.
Non-applicants (recorded trustees) argued that the trust had its own constitution, elections were held, change reports were filed, a regular body administered the trust, and Section 47 was not attracted.
Appellants/interveners applied for impleadment under Section 73(A), but their applications were disposed of as infructuous after the main application was decided.
Ratio Decidendi
Ratio not explicitly mentioned
Judgment Excerpts
only three recorded Trustees are surviving
all the Change Reports filed by the persons claiming to be the trustees of the said Sangha had been rejected
once the strength of the legal Trustees comes down the figure of minimum number of Trustees, as laid down in the Constitution, the Authority of the Joint Charity Commissioner assumes jurisdiction under Section 47 of the MPT Act to appoint Trustees
the learned Single Judge ... relied on the Judgment in the Case of Vanmala Manoharrao Kamdi ... which held that orders/directions under Section 41-A of the Act of 1950 are administrative in nature, hence directed to place this matter before the Division Bench
Procedural History
Application No. 74/2015 was filed under Sections 47 and 41-A of the MPT Act before the Joint Charity Commissioner, Mumbai. The Joint Charity Commissioner passed an order on 19/05/2016 appointing 19 trustees/administrators. First Appeal No. 600 of 2016 was filed before the Bombay High Court. On 19/10/2016, a Single Judge referred the matter to Division Bench relying on Vanmala Kamdi case regarding the nature of Section 41-A orders. The matter was heard by the Division Bench on February 23, 2021.
Acts & Sections
- Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950: Section 47, Section 41-A, Section 73(A)
- Societies Registration Act, 1860:
