# CHARITY COMMISSIONER, BOMBAY v. THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE SHRINGERI MAffi AND ITS PROPERTIES

- **Citation:** [1969] 1 S.C.R. 660
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1968-08-13
- **Bench:** S. M. Sikri, R. S. BACllAWAT, K. S. Hegde
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/charity-commissioner-bombay-v-the-administrator-of-the-shringeri-maffi-and-its-4464
- **Pages:** 6

## Headnote

Bombay Pu/>lic Trusts Act, 1950 ss. 2(9) and 2(13)-Definitions of·
"Math" and "Public Trust"-if a branch Math /eJI within the defi11i1ions.
The Assistant Charity Commissioner, Bombay, held an enquiry under
s. 19 of the Bombay Public Trusts Act. 1950 and came to the conclusion
that the 1'asik branch of the principal Shringeri Math situated
in
the
State of Mysore was a public trust and liable to be registered under s. 18
of the Act.
l'he Charity Commi!-.sioner in appeal confirmed this finding
and an application under s. 72 to the District Judge by the respondent
",..is rejected on
th~ view that the institution at Nasik \vas a place of
religious worship within the meaning of the defini:ion in s. 2(9) of the
Act.
However, the High Coun allowed an appeal and set aside the
order of the Assistant Charity Commissione·r.
On appeal to this Coun by a certificate,
HELD : The High Coun was right in holding that the Nasik Math
was not liable to be registered under the Act. The High Court had found
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ju the present case that in the Nasik Math no religious instructions were
imparted and no spiritual service was rendered to any body of disciples.
Furthennorc, no member of the public was allowed to enter the place
E
of worship without permission although worship was carried on by the
Pujaris according to Vedic usage.
In view of these findings the Nasik
Math could not be held to be a real Math or temple within the definition
in s. 2(9) cif the Act. (665 B-D]
HELD also: In order to determine the situs of the trust which
consists of a Math and a subordinate so-called Math or Maths., it is the
situs of the principal Math which will determine the applicability of the
F
Act. [665 BJ
Maharaikumari Umeshwari Kuer v. Tire State of Bihar, Petition No.
405 of 1955----0ccidcd on December 15, 1960: and Maham Ramswarup
v. Motiram Khandu, (1968) Mh. L.J. 363; referred to,
Crvn. APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 1000 of
1%5.
G
Appeal from the judgment and decree, dated December 13,
1962 of the Bombay High Court in Appeal No. 688 of 1959 from
Original Decree.
C. K. Daphtary, Attorney-General, M. S. K. Sastri and S. P.
Nayar, for the appellant.
H
H. R. Gokhale, Y. S. Chitale and K. Rajendra Chaudhuri,
for the respondent.
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CHARITY COMMR, V. SHRINGERI MATH (Sikri, /.)
661

## Text

660
CHARITY COMMISSIONER, BOMBAY
v.
THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE SHRINGERI MAffi AND
ITS PROPERTIES
August 13, 1968
[S. M. SIKRI, R. S. BACllAWAT AND K. S. HEGDE, JJ.]
Bombay Pu/>lic Trusts Act, 1950 ss. 2(9) and 2(13)-Definitions of·
"Math" and "Public Trust"-if a branch Math /eJI within the defi11i1ions.
The Assistant Charity Commissioner, Bombay, held an enquiry under
s. 19 of the Bombay Public Trusts Act. 1950 and came to the conclusion
that the 1'asik branch of the principal Shringeri Math situated
in
the
State of Mysore was a public trust and liable to be registered under s. 18
of the Act.
l'he Charity Commi!-.sioner in appeal confirmed this finding
and an application under s. 72 to the District Judge by the respondent
",..is rejected on
th~ view that the institution at Nasik \vas a place of
religious worship within the meaning of the defini:ion in s. 2(9) of the
Act.
However, the High Coun allowed an appeal and set aside the
order of the Assistant Charity Commissione·r.
On appeal to this Coun by a certificate,
HELD : The High Coun was right in holding that the Nasik Math
was not liable to be registered under the Act. The High Court had found
A
B
c
D
ju the present case that in the Nasik Math no religious instructions were
imparted and no spiritual service was rendered to any body of disciples.
Furthennorc, no member of the public was allowed to enter the place
E
of worship without permission although worship was carried on by the
Pujaris according to Vedic usage.
In view of these findings the Nasik
Math could not be held to be a real Math or temple within the definition
in s. 2(9) cif the Act. (665 B-D]
HELD also: In order to determine the situs of the trust which
consists of a Math and a subordinate so-called Math or Maths., it is the
situs of the principal Math which will determine the applicability of the
F
Act. [665 BJ
Maharaikumari Umeshwari Kuer v. Tire State of Bihar, Petition No.
405 of 1955----0ccidcd on December 15, 1960: and Maham Ramswarup
v. Motiram Khandu, (1968) Mh. L.J. 363; referred to,
Crvn. APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 1000 of
1%5.
G
Appeal from the judgment and decree, dated December 13,
1962 of the Bombay High Court in Appeal No. 688 of 1959 from
Original Decree.
C. K. Daphtary, Attorney-General, M. S. K. Sastri and S. P.
Nayar, for the appellant.
H
H. R. Gokhale, Y. S. Chitale and K. Rajendra Chaudhuri,
for the respondent.
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CHARITY COMMR, V. SHRINGERI MATH (Sikri, /.)
661
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
Sikri, J.
This appeal by certificate granted by the High
Court of Judicature at Bombay is directed against its judgment
and decree, dated December 30, 1962, whereby it set aside the
order made by the Assistant Charity Commissioner, dated August
19, 1955, as confirmed by the Deputy Charity Commissioner a~d
by the District Judge, Nasik. The High Court held that the Nas1k
Math is not liable to be registered under the Bombay Public
Trusts Act, 1950.
The High Court found the following facts relating to the
N asil:: Math :
"The principal Math is situated in the State
of
Mysore and as His Holiness is a Sanyasi he generally
names the house properties with temples as
'Maths'.
The properties at Nasik, Panchavati; are known as properties of Shringeri Math.
The Samadhis have been
constructed to look like temple, there is Sabha Mandap
in which an image of Adya Shankaracharya is installed.
All the expenses have been incurred by His Holiness
from the income of the Shringeri Math and some money
was borrowed from Nasik creditors.
Here religious
imtructions are not imparted and no spiritual service is
rendered to any body of disciples.
Some times people
come there and if they are given admission they stay
there for a short time.
There being "Samadhis" in
these premises, there are some idols and occasional festivals but it is not a temple for purpose of public worship.
No member of the public is allowed to enter the place of
worship but it is carried out by the Pujaris according
to Vedic usage. This property is being maintained by
the Principal J\fath from the very
beginning.
The
income consists of (1) re11t earned by letting the property; (2) offerings made before the Samadhis; (3)
grant from Nasik Treasury of Rs. 289 per year and ( 4)
yearly grant of Rs. 460-1-0 from village Pimpalgaon
Funji in Ahmednagar District."
The High Court further observed :
'
"One of the Sanads regarding the income of Pimpalgaon village is on record and it shows that the grant of
the income of the village is made to Shri Shankaracharya
clearly mentioning it to be for the expenses of the
'Sansthan' but the tenor of the documents shows that
the offering is made to the Shankarachary~ himself."
662
SVPREME COURT REPORTS
( 1969] I S.C.R.
The relevant provisions of the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950
A
(Bombay Act XX.XIX of 1950 )-hereinafter referred to as the
Act-are as follows : The preamble of the Act reads :
"An Act to regulate and to make better provision
for the administration of public religious and charitable
trusts in the State of Bombay:·
It would be noticed that the intention is only to deal with the
trusts which arc in the State of Bombay; it is not the idea to
regulate or make better provision for the administration of trusts
outside the State of Bombay; and one of the questions which we
have to answer is whether Nasik Math can be said to be in the
State of Bombay. The word "math" is defined ins. 2(9) of the
Act to mean "an institution for the promotion of Hindu religion
presided over by a person whose duty it is to engage himself in
imparting religious instructions or rendering spiritual services to a
body of disciples or who exercises or claims to exercise headship
over such a body and includes places of religious worship or
instruction which are appurtenant to the
institution."
"Public
trust" is defined in s. 2 ( 13) to mean "an express or constructive
trust for either a public religious or charitable purpose or both
.and includes a temple, a math, a wakf, a dharmada or any other
religious or charitable endowment and a society formed either for
a religious or charitable purpose or for both and registered under
the Societies Registration Act, 1860." The definition of "temple"
may also be noted.
"Temple" means "a place by whatever
designation known and used ~s a place of public religious worship
and dedicated to or for the benefit of or used as of right by the·
Hindu community or any section thereof, as a place of public
religious worship. [s. 2(17)]."
Section 18 of the Act provides for registration of public trusts
and makes it the duty of the Trustees of a public trust to which
the Act applies to make an application for the registration of the
public trust. It is under this section that an application was made,
under protest, by one Y. M. Krishnamurthy, Revenue Officer and
Jncharge Officer, Shri Shringeri Mutt and its properties.
The Assistant Charity Commissioner held an enquiry under
s. 19 of the Act and came to the conclusion that a trust existed
and it is a public trust and is liable to be registered under the
Act.
An appeal was taken to the Charity Commissioner.
The
Deputy Charity Commissioner, exercising appellate powers, confirmed the findings and order of the Assistant Charity Commissioner.
An application was then made under s. 72 of the Act
· to the District Judge to set aside the decision and order of the
Deputy Charity Commissioner, but the District Judge confirmed
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CHARITY COMMR, v. SHRINGERI MATH (Sikri, J.)
663
the order and dismissed the petition. H"e held that "this ii;s?tution
must be considered as a Branch Mutt even though its ongm may
be the Samadhis or tombs of the Shankaracharya of the name
Abhinava Sachhidanand Bharati." He further came to the conclusion that "the evidence on the record shows that this Institution
at Nasik is a place of religious worship within the meaning of the
definition in section 2(9) of the Act." He observed:
"There is no dispute that there are idols of Shri
Adya Shankaracharya and Shri Dattatraya in this institution and worship of those idols is carried on there. The
festivals which are held and which are attended by the
public who are invited on such occasions are the
Jayantis of Shri Shankaracharya and the deity of Shri
Dattatraya. In this behalf, the printed invitations (Exhibits 12/29, 12/30 and 12/31) may be perused.
There is also day-to-day worship of these deities which
is carried on by the Pujaris."
He further observed :
"Considering from this point of view,
this
place
would be a place of religious worship and there is no
dispute that at any rate it is appurtenant to the main
institution or the Muth at Shringeri."
He further held that "this institution or Foundation at Nasik is
E . admittedly a Branch of the Muth at Shringeri which is founded
by Adya Shankaracharya, and this Branch would partake of the
nature of the main or Principal Institution at Shringeri." He
accordingly held that it would be idle to contend that this intsitution. at Nasik would not come within even what is
called the
'inclusive portion' of the definition of 'Muth' enacted in Section
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2(9) of the Act.
The learned counsel for the appellant contends that the Nasik
Math is an independent Math within s. 2 ( 9) of the Act and,
therefore, covered by the provisions of the Act; at any rate, even
if the Nasik Math is an adjunct of or dependent upon the principal
math at Shringeri, it is covered by the Act. .
In Maharajkumari Umeshwari Kuer v. The State of Bihar( 1),
while considering the provisions of the Bihar Hindu Religious
Trusts Act, 1950 (Bihar Act I of 1951), Gajendragadkar, J.,
as he then was, speaking for the Court, observed :
"On behalf of the petitioner the learned AttorneyGeneral has contended that as a result of our decisions
in the group of cases to which we have already referred
it is now established that before the Act can apply two
(1) Petition No. 405 of 1955-decided on December 15, 1960.
·--...
664
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1969] I S.C.R.
conditions must be satisfied; first, that the religious trust
A
or the institution itself must be in Bihar, and second,
part of its property must be situated in the State of
Bihar.
Since the first of these two conditions is not
satisfied in the present case the Act cannot apply. In
our opinion this contention is well founded and must
be upheld."
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The facts in that case were that "a temple (was) situated at
Vrindavan Dham in the District of Mathra in Uttar Pradesh. In
this temple were installed the family idol of Shri Radha Gopalji
as well as the idol of Radhendra Kishorji in 1872 and
1877
respectively by Maharani Inderjit Kuer
of Tikari.
The
said
Maharani created a waqf of certain properties known as Balkhar
C
Mahal in the District of Gaya by a registered deed of endowment
on July 25, l S72, for the purpose of meeting the expenses relating to food, offering, prayers and worship in the said temple ....
The Trust owns properties also in Bihar."
This Court repelled· the contention that since the Trustees
reside in Bihar and the Trust is substantially administered in Bihar
the provisions of the Bihar Act
would
be
applicable,
and
observed:
"It is the situs of the trust of the principal institution or temple with which the trust is integrally connected that determines the applicability of the Act. The
properties in question which are situated partly in Uttar
Pradesh and partly in Bihar belong to the temple and
the deity is their owner. This deity is enshrined in the
temple situated at Vrindavan Dham, and so it is common ground that the situs of the temple is outside Bihar.
It is also admitted that part of the prope11ies belonging
to the trust arc in Uttar Pradesh.
Therefore the two
tests laid down by this Court inevitably lead to the conclusion that the present trust is outside the purview of
the Act.
The fact that the trustees reside in Bihar or
that the trust is partially administered in
Bihar for
charitable purposes can make no difference to this position."
Jn Maham Ramswamp v. Motiram
Kha11d11( 1),
a
case
governed by the Bombay Public Trnsts Act, Shela!, J., observed:
"There is no dispute thar the tmst is administered
at Burhanpur and the hulk of its properties. except the
three pieces of lands situate in the District of Dhulia,
arc all situate in the Madhya Pradesh State. The fact
that a part of its properties is situate in Maharashtra
(I) (19681 Mh. LJ. 363.
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CHARITY COMMR. v. SHRINGERI MATH (Sikri, J.)
665
A
State, though the trust is within Madhya Pradesh State,
would not mean that the trust would be governed partly
by the Madhya Pradesh Act and partly by the Bombay
Act. Such a division of the Trust and its administration is not contemplated by either of the two Acts."
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It seems to us that, in view of the above authorities, in order
to determine the situs of the trust, which consists of a Math and
a subordinate so-called math or maths, it is the situs of the principal math which will detennine the applicability of the Act.
We need not here decide the position of an independent real math
though connected with another math.
The High Court has
found in this case that in the N ru;ik Math no religious instructions are imparted and no spiritual service is rendered to any
body of disciples.
Further no member of the public is allowed
to enter the place of worship without permission although worship
is carried out by the Pujaris according to vedic usage. In view
of these findings the N asik Math cannot be held to be a real math
or temple within the definitions set out above.
In our opinion,
the High Court was right in holding that the Nasik Math is not
liable to be registered under the Act.
The appeal accordingly fails and is dismissed with costs.
R.K.P.S.
Appeal dismissed.