RAGHAVENDRA NAYAK Vs. JMFC KARKALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Fourteen Trustees, all of them hereditary, constituted the Board of Trustees of Sri Venkataramana temple, Karkala-admittedly a denominational temple. They are all parties to the present petition, five of them as petitioners and remaining nine as respondents being respondents 4 to 12. By some kind of convention, which the petitioner trustees claim to be" the scheme, while the respondent trustees name it a mere working arrangement, all the said trustees used to elect 3 trustees from amongst themselves as managing trustees for being in-charge of the day-to-day affairs of the trust for a period of 3 years.

(2.) Petitioners 1 to 3 were soclected on 26-9-1969 for a period of 3 years which expised on 30th June 1972. It appears that thereafter the trustees were deadlocked and were unable to elect a fresh set of managiag trustees and the existing set tried to perpetuate its hold for another term of three years by some kind of mandate Of the general body of the denomination.

(3.) Some of the respondents-trustees approached the Deputy Commissioner Endowments (Respondent No.2) to intervene, who directed the Assistant Commissioner Endowments, (Respondent No.3) to convene a meeting of the Board of Trustees for the purpose of electing a Chairman, who in compliance with the said directions, called the Board to meet on 11-11-1972 The Board met accordingly on the said date (though some of the petitioners-trustees did not participate) and duly elected respondent No.8 as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees.