HUKUMCHAND GULABEHAND JAIN Vs. FULCHAND LAKHMICHAND JAIN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) There is a temple known as Shri Chandraprabhu Khandelwal Jain Temple at Dhulia. Gulabchand Hiralal, father of appellant Hukamchand Gulabchand Jain, a leading member of the Khandewal Jain Community at Dhulia, looked after the temple for over 40 years till his death sometimes in 1950. The appellant looked after it after his father's death. Two members of the community interested in the temple, held to be a public temple, instituted the suit against the appellant and the Charity Commissioner, Bombay praying for the removal of the appellant from possession of the trust properties, for the rendering of true and faithful accounts of all the assets and income of the trust property and for the framing of the scheme for the administration of the trust. It was alleged in the plaint that the appellant's father was maintaining all accounts of income and expenditure concerning the temple and that the funds of the temple were many times advanced at interest and that the temple had come to hold large properties, movable and immovable. It was further alleged that the temple had a large income from offerings, house rent etc. but the appellant and his deceased father had not been maintaining the accounts properly and that the funds of the temple were being advanced at interest, though no such income was shown as received recently by the appellant.

(2.) The appellant, in his written statement, denied that the amount was so advanced at interest as alleged by the plaintiff and stated that this father had been keeping a ledger in the name of the temple in the accounts in which its income and expenditure had been duly entered since over 40 years and that the appellant himself had kept separate account books for the temple -since October 30, 1951. He denied that any income recently received had not been shown in the accounts.

(3.) The trial Court held that the appellant had committed minor irregularities in the maintenance of the accounts, that he was liable to render accounts and that the commissioner was to ascertain the amount due from the appellant on taking the accounts. It definitely held it not established that income, if any, derived by way of interest on loans advanced out of the funds of the temple had not been credited to the account of the temple and that no instance of fraudulent or dishonest misappropriation of temple funds on the part of defendant No. 1or his father had been established. It found that the meeting of the community had passed a resolution on August 11, 1958, by an overwhelming majority, sanctioning the accounts submitted by the appellant and that only two persons who opposed against the resolution were the two plaintiffs of the suit.