BHAVANISHANKAR RAMRAO Vs. TIMMANNA RAM BHATTA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The plaintiff sued to obtain a declaration that the appointment of defendants 10 to 15 as Moktesars of a certain Devasthan was illegal, and that the plaintiff is entitled to the office of Moktesar of that Devasthan.

(2.) The Court of first instance held that the suit was not maintainable without leave obtained under Section 18 of Act XX of 1863, and that the plaintiff had been properly dismissed by the defendants 1 to 9, who constitute the Committee of the Temple.

(3.) The lower appellate Court held that the suit did not fall within Section 14 of the Act; that leave under Section 18 was unnecessary; that the defendants 1 to 9 could not dismiss the plaintiff from office without good and sufficient cause, and that no good and sufficient cause for dismissal had existed. The lower appellate Court reversed the decree of the Court of first instance and declared the dismissal of the plaintiff to be void, but held that no case had been made out for declaring the appointments of defendants 10 to 15 invalid.