LAXMAN BALVANT BHOPATKAR Vs. CHARITY COMMISSIONER BOMBAY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal arises from an order passed by the learned District Judge of Poona dismissing Miscellaneous Application No. 325 of 1954 filed under Section 72 of the Bombay Public Trusts Act by the trustees of the Kesari Maratha Trust, and it raises an interesting question under the Bombay Public Trusts Act, namely, whether the Kesari Maratha Trust is a pub -lic trust under the Act

(2.) The circumstances under which the trustees of the Kesari Maratha Trust filed the above appli - cation under Section 72 of the Bombay Public Trusts Act are these: The two newspapers "Kesari'' and "Maratha" were started by Lokmanya Tilak in Poona. Lokmanya Tilak died in the year 1920. Be - fore his death he made a will on 5 -4 -1918, at Colombo making certain dispositions of his property. The only provisions of the will with which we are concerned in this appeal are those which occur under the caption "Chhapkhana" (printing press). The testator stated in this part of his will that a public trust had been created by him in respect of his "newspapers, office, press, foundry, library of the newspapers and the monies which had been depo sited as security." The testator also gave a direction that an amount of Rs. 75 per month should be paid to his son as rent for the premises occupied by the office of the newspapers, the printing press, etc. There was a further direction for the continuance of a certain relative of the testator in the office of the manager of the Press. It was also directed by the testator that the editorial policy of the news papers ''Kesari'' and "Maratha" should continue unchanged. From the words ...[VERNACULAR TEXT OMITTED]...in Clause 1 under the caption "Chhapkhana" (printing press), one might get an impression that a public trust was constituted by the testator by his will in respect of the newspapers, the printing press, etc. However, as no trust was in fact created by Lokmanya Tilak during his life -time, his sons and executors under his will executed a trust -deed on 16 -8 -1920. That trust -deed is Ex. 12 on the record of this case. It may be noted that the will made by Lokmanya Tilak is also a part of this record and it is Ex. 11. The trust -deed dated 16 -8 -1920, stated that it was executed for fulfilling the object of Lokmanya Tilak and for giving effect to the provisions of his will. Clause 1 of the trust -deed provides as follows:

(3.) Regarding Clause 11 of the trust -deed which deals with the celebration of Ganesh Utsav, the learned District Judge observed that it did not constitute a religious purpose of the trust. In his view, secular gatherings often begin with or end with prayers and yet "the purpose of such gatherings continues to be secular in spite of the religious prayers". The learned Judge was of the opinion that "the performance of this Utsav (Ganesh Utsav) was not a purpose of the trust, but was an incident in the management of the trust" and that "the Utsav and its performance cannot influence the answer to the question whether the purpose of the trust was charitable". The trustees, feeling aggrieved by the decision of the learned District Judge that the Kesari Maratha Trust is a public trust, have appealed and the question which arises for our decision is whether the trust constituted by the trust -deed Ex. 12 dated 16 -8 -1920, is a public trust under the Bombay Public Trusts Act. It may be noted that although Lokmanya Tilak stated in his will in Clause 1 under the caption "Chhapkhana"" (printing press) that he had created a public trust, he had not in fact created any public trust during his life -time. That was why after his death his sons & executors under his will constituted this trust to respect his wishes & fulfil the object he had in view. Now, a 'public trust' is defined in Section 2, Sub -section (13), of the Bombay Public Trusts Act. Section 2, Sub -section (13), lays down ;