MALAGOUDA JINAGOUDA PATIL Vs. SHANTAPPA YESHWANT MIRJI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE facts of the case in M. F. A. No. 60 of 2001 are as follows.--A Public Charitable Trust by the name of Shri (108) Acharya ratna Dashabushan Digambar Jain Ashram Trust in Chikkodi taluk ('the Trust' for short) was registered under the Bombay public Trusts Act, 1950 ('the BPT Act' for short) as on 31-51968. The general body of the Trust consisted of three categories of members, namely, grand patrons, patrons and ordinary members. There was a Managing Committee consisting of nine members, of whom five were chosen from amongst the grand persons, three from among the patrons and one from among the ordinary members. The general body was required to elect the Managing Committee for a term of three years, at a time. As per the report filed with the assistant Charity Commissioner there were twenty-two members and nine elected Trustees. The said report was approved in Enquiry No. 19 of 1968 as on 11-7-1968. Thereafter there is no indication of any meetings or elections. There were no change reports filed into the office of Assistant charity Commissioner till the year 1988. On 23-12-1988, respondent 1 herein filed a change report which was numbered as Inquiry No. 877 of 1988. The same was accepted as on 23-12-1988. It was sought to be indicated in the above change report that after the death of the first named Secretary Shri N. T. Mukare, that there was a meeting of the general body on 5-4-1977 and that Shri N. B. Pinake was elected as Secretary and respondent 1 herein having been elected as Chairman. Since the change report was accepted after a delay of 11 years and since it was alleged that the change report was not genuine, the same was challenged by the appellant herein and three others before the charity Commissioner, Belgaum, in Appeal No. 5 of 1989. The appeal was allowed and the change report was set aside by an order dated 27-2-1989 and it was directed that the appellant, respondent 1 along with four others who were parties before him and who were also the surviving Trustees along with the appellant and respondent 1 - to meet and co-opt a Secretary -who shall then convene a general body in the month of April 1989 and to elect a Managing Committee under the supervision of an Inspector to be deputed from the office of the Assistant Charity Commissioner. In the body of this order there are findings to the effect that there was no election of the Managing Committee or Secretary in the year 1977 and that the change report filed by respondent 1 was false.

(2.) PURSUANT to this, one group led by the respondent 1 herein, had filed a change report on 4-5-1989, claiming that a general body meeting was held on 30-4-1989 and that nine trustees had been elected to the Managing Committee as well as the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer. This change report was numbered as Inq. No. 316 of 1989. On the other hand, another group led by Shri B. A. Patil filed another change report on 19-4-1989 claiming that a general body meeting was held on 16-4-1989 and that he and eight others were elected as trustees and that he was elected as Secretary and others as other office-bearers. This report was numbered as Inq. No. 270 of 1989. The two reports were clubbed and common evidence was recorded. The Assistant Charity Commissioner rejected both the change reports after hearing the parties as on 12-6-1990.

(3.) RESPONDENT 1 had challenged the order passed as against Inq. No. 316 of 1989 in Appeal No. 17 of 1990 by the Charity Commissioner contending that the Assistant Charity Commissioner had erred in holding that the parties had not complied with directions of the Charity commissioner, issued in Appeal No. 5 of 1989.