(1.) The suit in which these two consolidated appeals from a decree of the High Court at Allahabad have arisen was brought in the Court of the District Judge of Mainpuri in the United Provinces on May 20, 1915. The reliefs claimed in the suit were the removal of the then trustees of an endowment for religious and charitable purposes on account of alleged misappropriation of the endowed property, and the appointment of new trustees to whom the possession of the entire endowed property should be given; that accounts Should be furnished of the property of the endowment and the misappropriations should be made good; that a scheme for the management of the endowment should be settled; that any other beneficial relief should be granted; and that costs should be decreed against any of the defendants who might be found liable. The suit was brought under Section 92 of the Civil P. C., 1908. The plaintiffs had obtained the consent in writing of the Legal Remembrancer of the United Provinces to the institution by shem of the suit, such Legal Remembrancer having been the officer appointed under Section 93 of the Act to exercise in those Provinces the powers in that respect which are conferred on the Advocate General by Section 92.
(2.) The parties to the suit are residents of Etawah in the United Provinces, and are Hindus of the Agarwal caste. The caste name is also written Aggarwall. The plaintiffs are through a common ancestor related, more or less distantly, to the defendants, and are persons who were interested in the proper management of the trust properties of the endowment. The defendants are descendants of one Sital Prasad who founded the endowment by his will of February 24, 1904.
(3.) The Agarwal is a well known caste and has caste sub-divisions. The members of the caste in the United Provinces and the Punjab are mainly Zamindars, or agriculturists, or are engaged in other forms of trade. The Agarwals of the United Provinces and of the Punjab carry on their business, whatever it may be, either separately or as joint families. When the business is carried on as the business of a joint family it is as a rule carried on in the name of the managing member of the joint family or in a firm name.