PRINCESS FAUMA FRONZIA Vs. SAYEED UL MULK

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is directed against the order of the Chief Judge, City Civil Court, Hyderabad in I.A. No. 565 of 78 dissolving the interim injunction issued by that Court on 14-3-1978 and dismissing the application for injunction. I.A. No. 565 of 1978 was made by the Appellant herein praying for an injunction "restraining the respondents herein from taking any further steps whatsoever by way of finalisation of tenders or in any other manner in the matter pertaining to the sale of jewellery as per Schedule-I of the trust deed known as H.E.H. The Nizam's Main Jewellery Trust dated 29th March, 1951, pending an application O.P. No. 141 of 1978 filed by him for the removal of the respondents-trustees.

(2.) H.E.H. Nizam, who was accepted by the Government of India to be the Owner of certain jewellery and other moveable property and certain securities created a trust of the said properties' known as ''The Nizam Jewellery Trust" under a Registered Trust Deed dated 29th March, 1951 for the benefit of his relatives specified in III Schedule to the Trust Deed. For the sake of brevity, this trust will be referred to hereinafter as the Jewellery Trust or simply as ''The Trust". Respondents 1 to 5 are the present trustees of the said Jewellery Trust. There is no dispute that these respondents are legally appointed trustees of the said Trust in accordance with the Trust Deed. It is therefore unnecessary for the purpose of this appeal to notice the circumstances in which respondents 1 to 5 came to be appointed as trustees of the said Trust. There is also no dispute that the trustees are at preset authorised to sell the said jewels. The Trust Deed enjoins the trustees to hold the trust properties and among others direct them to sell the jewels specified in the I Schedule thereof, "after the death of the settlor as well as of his eldest SOD Prince Azam Jah Bahadur within a period of three years." That event has occurred. When the trustees appointed under the said Trest proceeded to bring to sale 37 items of Jewellery which form part of First schedule of Trust Deed, Princess Fatima Fouzia, the eldest daughter cf Prince Mouzam Jah Bahadur and grand-daughter of Nizam VII of Hyderabad, the Settlor filed a petition O.P. 141/78 to discharge the trustees. She is one of the eight beneficiaries mentioned in the Third Schedule Part I of the Trust Deed. The Principle Ground on which that petition was filed was that 107 items of Jewels mentioned in the First Schedule of the Trust Deed which includes the famous 'Jacob Diamond' are very valuable, but the Trustees are proceedings to dispose of the same in India by way of sale. It is alleged that the trustees have chosen to call for tenders from local jewellers and the local jewellers "have formed into a ring in collusion with Trustees". Although the jewellery is worth more than 100 crores of rupees, the amount offered by these jewellers in their tenders is hardly 20 crores of rupees. It is alleged that inspite of several requests, the Trustees have failed to comply with the request of the petitioner and husband for rendering account and furnishing information about the securities. This, according to her, is a dereliction of the Statutory duty on the part of the Trustees and constitutes mismanagement of the Trust properties. "The arbitrary and capricious manner in which these jewels are sought to be disposed of for a song" jeopardises the interest of the beneficiaries and causes them irreparable loss. She alleges that this is being done by the Trustees deliberately. She prays that the Trustees "should be directed to sell the jewellery in a proper legal manner taking into consideration the interest of all the beneficiaries". According to the petitioner, the jewels now sought to be sold in addition to their being very valuable by themselves are of rate antique value.

(3.) Pending the petition for discharging the trustees, a petition I.A. 565/78 for restraining the respondent trustees from finalisaing the sale of jewellery was also made. In this petition, several irregularities in the sale of the jewels by the trustees were alleged. In the original petition for injunction, the petitioner merely alleged that the trustees are going to finalise the sale on 20-3-1978 and that the sale was collusive and clandesytine and if the trustees were to finalise the same, the beneficiaries would suffer heavy and irreparable loss. In this affidavit filed on 10th March, 1978 the petitioner stated that the jewels are in the safe custody of Mercantile Bank at Bombay and as they are of great antique value they would fetch higher price in foreign market at the hands of foreign buyers. Upon that petition, initially the Chief Judge of the City Civil Court issued an in erim injunction as prayed for against the trustees.