AHMAD ADAM SAIT Vs. M E MAKHRI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal by special leave arises out of a suit instituted by the respondents in the Court of the District Judge, Bangalore, under S. 92 of the Code of Civil Procedure (O. S. No. 2 of 1947). The respondents claimed to represent the Sunni Muslim population of the Civil and Military Station at Bangalore, and as such they prayed in their plaint that a scheme should be settled for the proper administration of the Jumma Masjid which is situated on Old Poor House Road, C. and M. Station, Bangalore. Their case was that the Masjid in question along with its adjuncts such as Idgah, Makkhan, Madrassa, Kutubkhana and Musafarkhana as well as large movable and immovable properties, constitute a Trust created for public purposes of a religious nature coupled with Charity, and that the Dakkhani Muslims as well as the Cutchi Memons residing in Bangalore are the beneficiaries of the Trust and have an abiding interest in its proper management, control and direction.

(2.) It appears that a similar suit had been filed in 1924 (O. S. No. 32 of 1924) in the same Court and in that suit a scheme had been framed in 1927. Pursuant to the said scheme, Trustees were appointed and they have been in management of the Trust properties since then. The respondents alleged that in the said suit, it was represented that the Masjid belonged mainly to the Cutchi Memons of Bangalore and that the Cutchi Memons were entitled exclusively to its management. It is on this basis that the said suit was prosecuted by consent and a scheme was drawn up by the Court after considering different schemes put before it by the respective parties. To that suit seven defendants were impleaded; defendants 2 and 7 claimed the right of management of the Trust under wills executed by the deceased Mutawalli Abdul Gaffar. Defendant No. 2 was then a minor and his mother was impleaded as defendant No. 1 both in her own right and as guardian of defendant No. 2 Defendants 3 to 6 were the Executors under the will of Abdul Gaffar on which defendant No. 2 relied. All these defendants were non-Cutchi Memons and the appellants who had filed the suit were Cutchi memons. While the said suit was pending, six persons who were Cutchi Memons applied to be joined as defendants to the suit. Their case appears to have been that no scheme need be framed. Their application was rejected by the District Judge, but on revision before the Court of Resident in Mysore, the District Judge's order was set aside and they were ordered to be impleaded. That is how ultimately, 13 defendants were joined to the said suit.

(3.) While the administration of the Trust and the management of its affairs and properties were thus entrusted to the Board of Trustees appointed under the scheme, and the same was being continued after the scheme decree was passed, an application was made by the present respondents on January 22, 1945 under O. 1, R. 10 and Ss. 141 and 151 of the Code in which they prayed that they may be joined as parties to the proceedings under the scheme and that the Trustees should be ordered to convene a fresh meeting of the general body of worshippers of the Masjid and prepare a list containing their names and submit the same to the Court irrespective of whether they happen to belong to the Cutchi Memon Jamayat or the Dakkhani Muslim Community of Bangalore. Their contention was that a meeting which had been held in pursuance of the order on C. M. P. No. 242 of 1944 was invalid, null and void and so they wanted to be joined to the proceedings; they desired that a fresh meeting should be called for the purpose of preparing a list of worshippers as prescribed by the scheme. In support of this application, an elaborate affidavit was filed in which they set out their grievance that the management of the Trust which had been left exclusively in the hands of Cutchi Memons was inconsistent with the scheme and on the merits, unjustified and unfair.