# LAXMAN BALWANT BHOPATKAR (Since decea•en ) HY ANOTHER TRUSTEE DR.DHANANJAYA RAMACHANDRA GADGIL AND OTHERS v. THE · CHAlUTY COMMISSIONER, BOMBAY

- **Citation:** [1963] 2 S.C.R. 625
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1963
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/laxman-balwant-bhopatkar-since-decea-en-hy-another-trustee-dr-dhananjaya-2529
- **Pages:** 68

## Headnote

2 s.o.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS
625
LAXMAN BALWANT BHOPATKAR (Since
decea•en ) HY ANOTHER TRUSTEE
DR.DHANANJAYA RAMACHANDRA
GADGIL AND OTHERS
v.
THE · CHAlUTY COMMISSIONER, BOMBAY
(B. .P. SINHA, C. J., K. SuBBA RAo, N. RAJAGOPALA
AYYANGAR, .J. R.
MUDHOLKAR and
T. L. VENKATARAMA AIYAR,. JJ.)
Public Trust-Cltaritable purpose-Educatio" to mak
people
conscious of political rights-Political
purposeObject of general public utility-Bombay Public Trust. Act,
1960 (Bom. 290/ 1960), 88. 2 (13), 9( 4).
Lokamanya Tilak died on August I, 1920, leaving a
will. On Augut 16, 1920, his. two sons and the executor
appointed by him under the will executed a trust deed in
respect of
two
newspapers
"The
Kesari"
and
"The
Maharatta", and the property and
tl~e machinery pertaining
thereto. Clause I of the trust deed
recited: '
1Thi.s
Trust deed haS. been made as a means to the fulfilment
perpetually and uninterruptedly after the death of the
late Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak of that very object
of his with which he . took all activities alier he
took
charge of the newspapers-the. Kesari and Maratha such
as of spreading political education through the newspapers
and thereby making people alive to t],eir political rights
and carrying on other multifarious pubJic activities conducive to the national ideal etc." A survey of the public
life and activity of Lokmanya Tilak
showed that his
purpose
in taking over and Conducting
the newspapers
was political, in the sense of seeking to achieve by m;:ans
of -rousing the consciousness of the people to their condition,
a politoical awarenesa, by which adjustments of a political
character would be demanded and enforced by the persons
who inbibed those
truths or were influenced
by such
writings. ·The question was whether the aforesaid
trust
was a
public charitable trust within the definition ;,,
s. 2 (13) read with s.
9 (4) of the Bombay Public Trusts
Act, 1950, so as to justify an order by the Charity
Commissioner requiring the .trustees to
have the trust
regiltcred.
Jii62
1961
Loima11 B.ZU-1
Bhopoa:., B)'
D"'-nJ111•
Ba•,-°"'1• GMtll
v.
c•..;u C..111mU·
"""' B0111b<t7
WI
SUPltEM.E COURT REPORTS [1963)
Held, (Subba Rao, J., Dia.<enting), that a political purpose is not a charitable purpose and does not come within
the meaning of the expression ''for the advancement of any
other object of general public utility" in s. 9 (4) of the
Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950.
The life mission of I.okmanya Tilak which he sought
to _achivc and achieved through the two newspapers, and
which wa~ set out in the trust deed dated August 16, 1920.
as the object for which the trust was founded, was a political
purpose and, therefore, the trust was not required to be registered under s. 18 of the Act.
Per Subba Rao, J.-The. object of Tilak, after he took
over the newspapers, was to work for the regeneration of the
country,
and he thought that national education through
newspapers and writings,.. which would mak~ people alive to
their political rights, was the most important item in the uplift of tl.c country. The trust executed to perpetuate the said
object was clearly a trust for general public utility within the
meaning of s. 9 (4) of the Act. The expression "object of
general public utility" is very comprehensive and it includes
every purpose, whether political or otherwise, provided it is
an object of general public utility.
JJonar In.w Memorial 'rn,,.t v. Commi86ionera of inland
Ret'enue, (1933) 17 Tax Ca•. 508, Trualet'1 of the Tribune Pre86,
Lohore v
Commi•Bion<r of Income Taz, (1939) L. R. 66 I. A.
241, All India 8pintutrs' Aasociuticm v. Oommiesioner of Income
Ta:c (1944) L. R. 71 I. A. 159, Re Hopkin.oon: Moyd• Ba"k
Ltd. v. Baker, [1949] 1 All E. R. 346, Subltas Chmulro Bose
v. Gordfzanda• Patel, I. L. R. [1940] Born. 254, and In re
Lo/ctroanya TilakJubilu National Truat Fund /Joml>ay, (1941)
t3 Born. L. R. 1027, considered.
CIVIL .APPELLATE JurusDICTION : Civil Appea.1
No. 313 of 1958.
Appeal from the judgment ani decree dated
Febr

## Text

_Characters 0–39,995 of 132,674. This is a partial read: ask again with offset=39995 for what follows._

2 s.o.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS
625
LAXMAN BALWANT BHOPATKAR (Since
decea•en ) HY ANOTHER TRUSTEE
DR.DHANANJAYA RAMACHANDRA
GADGIL AND OTHERS
v.
THE · CHAlUTY COMMISSIONER, BOMBAY
(B. .P. SINHA, C. J., K. SuBBA RAo, N. RAJAGOPALA
AYYANGAR, .J. R.
MUDHOLKAR and
T. L. VENKATARAMA AIYAR,. JJ.)
Public Trust-Cltaritable purpose-Educatio" to mak
people
conscious of political rights-Political
purposeObject of general public utility-Bombay Public Trust. Act,
1960 (Bom. 290/ 1960), 88. 2 (13), 9( 4).
Lokamanya Tilak died on August I, 1920, leaving a
will. On Augut 16, 1920, his. two sons and the executor
appointed by him under the will executed a trust deed in
respect of
two
newspapers
"The
Kesari"
and
"The
Maharatta", and the property and
tl~e machinery pertaining
thereto. Clause I of the trust deed
recited: '
1Thi.s
Trust deed haS. been made as a means to the fulfilment
perpetually and uninterruptedly after the death of the
late Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak of that very object
of his with which he . took all activities alier he
took
charge of the newspapers-the. Kesari and Maratha such
as of spreading political education through the newspapers
and thereby making people alive to t],eir political rights
and carrying on other multifarious pubJic activities conducive to the national ideal etc." A survey of the public
life and activity of Lokmanya Tilak
showed that his
purpose
in taking over and Conducting
the newspapers
was political, in the sense of seeking to achieve by m;:ans
of -rousing the consciousness of the people to their condition,
a politoical awarenesa, by which adjustments of a political
character would be demanded and enforced by the persons
who inbibed those
truths or were influenced
by such
writings. ·The question was whether the aforesaid
trust
was a
public charitable trust within the definition ;,,
s. 2 (13) read with s.
9 (4) of the Bombay Public Trusts
Act, 1950, so as to justify an order by the Charity
Commissioner requiring the .trustees to
have the trust
regiltcred.
Jii62
1961
Loima11 B.ZU-1
Bhopoa:., B)'
D"'-nJ111•
Ba•,-°"'1• GMtll
v.
c•..;u C..111mU·
"""' B0111b<t7
WI
SUPltEM.E COURT REPORTS [1963)
Held, (Subba Rao, J., Dia.<enting), that a political purpose is not a charitable purpose and does not come within
the meaning of the expression ''for the advancement of any
other object of general public utility" in s. 9 (4) of the
Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950.
The life mission of I.okmanya Tilak which he sought
to _achivc and achieved through the two newspapers, and
which wa~ set out in the trust deed dated August 16, 1920.
as the object for which the trust was founded, was a political
purpose and, therefore, the trust was not required to be registered under s. 18 of the Act.
Per Subba Rao, J.-The. object of Tilak, after he took
over the newspapers, was to work for the regeneration of the
country,
and he thought that national education through
newspapers and writings,.. which would mak~ people alive to
their political rights, was the most important item in the uplift of tl.c country. The trust executed to perpetuate the said
object was clearly a trust for general public utility within the
meaning of s. 9 (4) of the Act. The expression "object of
general public utility" is very comprehensive and it includes
every purpose, whether political or otherwise, provided it is
an object of general public utility.
JJonar In.w Memorial 'rn,,.t v. Commi86ionera of inland
Ret'enue, (1933) 17 Tax Ca•. 508, Trualet'1 of the Tribune Pre86,
Lohore v
Commi•Bion<r of Income Taz, (1939) L. R. 66 I. A.
241, All India 8pintutrs' Aasociuticm v. Oommiesioner of Income
Ta:c (1944) L. R. 71 I. A. 159, Re Hopkin.oon: Moyd• Ba"k
Ltd. v. Baker, [1949] 1 All E. R. 346, Subltas Chmulro Bose
v. Gordfzanda• Patel, I. L. R. [1940] Born. 254, and In re
Lo/ctroanya TilakJubilu National Truat Fund /Joml>ay, (1941)
t3 Born. L. R. 1027, considered.
CIVIL .APPELLATE JurusDICTION : Civil Appea.1
No. 313 of 1958.
Appeal from the judgment ani decree dated
February 2, 1956, of the Bombay High Court, in
Appeal No. 77Ft of 1955 from Original Decree.
Veda Vyasa, 8. G. Patwardhan and Ganpat Rai
for the appellant.a.
H. N. Sanyal, Additional Solicitor-General of
India, N. S. Bindra and R. TI. J)h,e))(J.r, for the respondent 11nd the State of Ma.haraahta (Intervener).
' .
,
2 S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
627
1962. May I. The followi.ng Judgments were
delivered.
The judgment of Sinha, C. J., Rajagopala
Ayyangar, Mudholkar and Venkataramn. Aiyar, JJ.,
was delivered by Rajagopala Ayyangar, J.
RAJAGOPALA
AYYANGAR, J.-·This
is an
appeal on a certificate of fitness granted h.v the
High Court of Bombay under Art. 133 (1) (b) & (c)
of the Constitution, and the question raised for
consideration is whether the "Kesari & Mahratta
Trust" of which the appellants are the Trustees was
or was not a "public. Trust" within the meaning of
the Bombay Public Trust Act (Act XXIX of 1950)
which it will be convenient to refer to as the Act.
The Act which by its long title was enacted
"to regulate and to make better provision for the
administration of public, religious and charitable
Trusts in ·the State of Bombay" came into force on
August 14, 1950. Section 18 of the Act enacted:
"18. (l) It shall be the duty of the
trustee of a public trust to which this Act
has been applied to make an application for
the registration of the puhlic trust.
,,
o o 0 Io 0 o o o o o o o o • o 0 0 o 0 o
Section 66 of the Act provides penalties according
to a table apperrded to it for contravention of the
several sections set out in it and among the
sections so included is s. 18(1). In this state of
affairs the trustees of the appellant-trust addressed
on April 16, 1952, a communication to the Assistant Charity CommiBBioner, Poona region, Poonabeing the authority empowered to effect the registration of the Trust, if it was a public Trust-that
"the Kesari & Mahratta Trust" was not a "public
Trust" within the meaning of the Act and submitted that it was not liable to be registered thereunder. Section 19 of the Act empowers an Assistant
196B
Loxman Balt1an'
Bhopalkar by
Dr. Dlton.,,ja,a
RamchandrO; ()aJgil
v.
0/Ja;i(1 Commis·
sitJnB, Bomba'
IHI
L.~6al•1nl
..... ,Jc•r ._,
J!lr, .b,_,_,., t ro
11 .......... (J.iq;l
••
A.ti1_, Cntntissintn, Mnsl•'
... 7.1"01"" J.
628
SUPREME OOURT REPORTs (1963]
Charity Commissioner to make an enquiry for
ascertaining, inter a.lia., "whether a. Trust e:r.ist a.nd
whether such Trust is a. public Trust." This officer
held an enquiry under this provision, giving a.n
opportunity to the trustees of the Trust to make
representation8 a.nd urge their contentions. Thereafter be recorded a. finding under s. 20 of the Act
that it was a. public Trust to which the Act applied
and pa.seed a.n order directing the Trust to be
registered.
•
Section 70 of the Act provides for appeals
being filed a.gs.inst findings recorded and orders
passed under s. 20 by A88istant Charity Commissioners, to the Charity Commissioner, and
the
trustees availed themselves of this remedy and
repeated their contentions before the Charity
Commissioner.
The appellate· authority however
reached the ea.me conclusion a.e the ABSistant
Charity Commissionor and dismiBSed the appeal.
Section 72 of the Act enables a. party aggrieved by
the decision of the Charity CommiBsion6r under
s. 70 on the question "whethl·r a trust exists and
whether such trust is a public trust" to apply to
the Court to set aside the sa.i<l decision. The trustees moved the Court under this provision but this
application was dismissed by the learned District
Judge, Poona. It was from this judgment of the
learned District Judge that the trustees filed a.n
appeal to the High Court of Bombay who also dismissed the appeal but granted the certificate which
has enabled the present appeal to the filed.
It would be seen from the above narrative
that the entire question raised by the appeal is
concerned with whether tho Kosari & Ma.hratta.
Trust was a "public Trust" within tho meaning of
the Aot so as to justify the order of the Assistant
Charity Commissioner requiring the trustees to have
the institution registered. Section 2 of the Act
•
-
2 s.c.R.
SUPREME OOUR'r REPORTS
629
..,, 1 which contains definitions defines a public Trust
· in cl. (13) thus:
"an express or constructive trust for
either public, religious or charitable purpose
or both ............ "
to read only the portion relevant for this appeal.
The other material provision is s. 9 of the Act
which defines "Charitable purpose". The purpose
defined include:
' •
( 1) relief of property or distress,
(2) education,
(3) medical relief, and
(4) the advancement of any other object
of general public utility but does not
include a purpose which relates-
( a) exclusively to sports, or
( b) exclusively to religious teR.ching
h. "
or wors ip.
There are oertain other provisions of the Act to
which our attention was drawn during thegcourse of
the agruments but as both their construction as
well as their constitutional validity which were the
subject of debate before us would arise only if the
Trust were a public charitable Trust within the
definition in s. 2( 13) read with s. 9, we purpose
immediatel:y to proceed to consider the submissions
~--1 made by learned Counsel in relation to this
crucial point.
The Trust in question was created by a deed
dated August 16, 1920 by three persons. The first
two authors of the Trust were the sons of
Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak who had died on
_.,
August l,"1920, leaving a will executed on April 5,
1918, to the terms of which we shall refer
presently. The third executa.nt was the executor
1901
Laxman Balw«11e
Bhopatw by
Dr. Dhananjnya
Romclwndra Godg l
v.
Charity Commisaianer, B1mboy
. .ty,angor J.
IHI
Luman Ba/1oal
Bit.flat!•• bJI
Dr Dlionarejoyo
R-h..d•a G<dg I
v.
CA.,i~ OommM·
1il~w. •inrelay
630 SUPREME OOURT REPORTS (1963)
appointed by the deceased under his said will. The
Trust deed in its preamble refers to the execution
of the will ancl after recitin::r the fact that the will
was agreed to in all respect by the three exeeutantli
proceeds to state that the Trust deed in regard to
the Kesari Printing Press Newspapers etc.
was
being executed in order that the objects recited in
the will may be fulfilled.
The Trust deed contains
13 clauses but of these those relevant for the
consideration of the matters arising in the appeal
are only two and they 11,re clR. I and 8.
Clauses l
specifies the objects of the Trust, while cl. 8 make&
provision for contingencies
ariRing from
the
trustees becoming inc11,pable of discharging their
dut.ies as well as from the institution ceasing to
exist. It reads :
"In the event of any of the said Trustees
becoming incapable of discharging the duties
of the Trust for any reason whatsoever, suoh
person as, in the opinion of both the trustees,
may be fit to discharge the duty in accordance with the wishes of the Lokamanya Tilak
shall be appointed as a trustee for the perpetuation of this institution and Trust. If
perchance, there is only one Trustee left for
making this appointment, he shall appoint
a Trustee following the above policy.
And
all t.he rights of the Trustee of the said institution under this Trust deed, shall vest in
the Trustee so appointed. If for any reason
whatever, new Trustees are not appointed or
none of the prior Trustees survives, the panchas mentioned (under appointment of New
Trustees by the Panchas) in clause 8, wider
the heading of •the Printing Press' in the
Will of the Lokamanya Tilak or the Panohlll!
appointed in their own place by such Panchas
~hall appoint the new Trustees. But if such
appointment of New Trust°" is not made in
( .
-
•
<
'
2 S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
&31
tho manner stated above, the Trust Estate
shall revert to Nos. 1 and 2 of us or to their
heirs, 'Primarily' in the capacity of Trustees as
such. If for any reason this institution ceases
functioning, for the time being but if it is
possible to revive that institution,. such Tru·
stees who may be present and fit to carry on
the institution under this Trust·deed. However,
if this institution, ceases to exist, for any
reason whatsoever, and it is thought that it
is not possible to revive it at any time later
on, the trust property shall be of the ownership of Nos.
1 and 2 of us or their heirs.
The trustees of the institution individually,
or their heirs shall have no private (personal)
right whatever to this property."
It is only necessary to add that learned
Counsel for the appellant-Trustees assured us that
the appellants had no intention at all of abando·
ning the objects of the Trust or ceasing to be
bound by the te1·ms of the Trust deed even in the
""
event of our holding that the Trust was not a public
charitable trust, but that cherishing as they did
the memory of Lokmanya Tiiak they would carry
on the mission entrusted to them by the great
leader for ever. As almost the entire argument
in the appeal before us as well as the decision
againsi the appellants in the Courts below have
rested wholly on the interpretation and legal effect
of the provisions contained in cl. 1 it ilil necessary
' ."\ to set this out in full. The Trust deed is in Marathi and the following is its English translation
accepted by both parties :
"This 'frust deed has been made as a
means to the fulfilment perpetually and uninterruptedly after the death of the late
Lpkmanya Bal . Gangadhar Tilak of that very
object of his with ~hich lie took all activities
after he took charge of the newspapera....:t~
196!
196t
La.xmon BalWGtzi
Bh.patt• by
J.,r.Dh11tttutj9•
llatnacAantbo Go,gil
..
CAarty Conmris·
si~Bni>a,
AJyGngar J.
632
SUPERME COURT REPORTS CI963]
Kesari and Maratha ench as of spreading
political education through the newspapers
:m<l thereby making people ali\·e to their
political rights and carrying on o•:her multifarious public aotivities conducive to the national ideal eto."
Pausing here, is it necessary to mention that
the translation as it appears in the Paper Book
re~ds "such as spreading national education through
those newspapers etc." It wa.s however agreed
that the adjective "national" was not a correct
rendering of the Marathi expreBBion "Rajakia'' which
was moro accuratdy denoted by the word "political"
and we therefore proceed on the translation which
was aocepted before us by both tho parties.
It will be seen from the preamble and cl. I
that the TruRt was brought into existence for the
purpose of fulfilling the last wishes of the Lokmanya as expressed in bis will dated April 5, 1918.
The terms of the will have therefore relevance for
un<lerstandini the object 1iought to be achieved by
the Trust. ' The will
w&a made in Colombo on
April 5, 1918. Most of the dispositions of the will
are taken up with legacies to his sons but the
disposition we are now concerned with occurs in
els.
3 and •1 of the will and wo shall read the
relevant portions of those clauses. Clau8e 3 ( l) which
is headed "The Printing Press" reads:
. .
"I have made a public trust of the • ·•
newspapers, the office,
the printing press,
the machine and the foundry, the newspaper
library and security-money in respect of
newapapers.''
·This, however, was not accurate; for though
evidently the Lokmanya had intended to create
•
a trust no formal deed therefor had been executed
and it. was this deficiency tha.t was mpplied b7
' '
'
1
\
'r ?
2 S.Q.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
633
his sons and the . executor appointed under the
will. Clause 4 of the will is of i:elevance and it rail:
' 1'.1.'he policy of the papers (editorial
policy) shall be
kept as it is.
Under no
circumstances shall it be changed.'.'
The other provisions o( the will do not bear
upon the points arising in this·· appeal.
The question now for our consideration is
whether under ol.
I. of the deed of trust a public
'
charitable trust has been created. Analysing the
provision of the clause it would be seen that the
prime object of the trust was the fulfilment of the
basic purpose which animated the activities of the
late Lokmanya and whioh be sought to accomplish
through the two newspapers-Kesari and Mahratha
after be took charge of them. This has to be. read
with the provision of the· will directing the continuance of the two newspapers with their policy
entirely
unchanged. As if in explanation or
exemplification of this prime purpose we have the
~ statement that the object the Lokmanya sought to
achieve through the two newspapers was that of
spreading political education and thereby making the
people alive to their political rights and carrying
out other multifarious public activities conducive
to the national ideal.
Pausing here, it is necessary to mention that
though the object of the trust was thus ·intimately
, , bound up with the policy and purpose pf the
Kesari and Mahra.tha after tho Lokmanya took
charge of them, no evidence was led at any stage
by either party as to what· precisely was the policy
or the object of the two newspapers which was
sought to be achieved by the Lokmanya. through
them. Nor was evidence placed before the Court
,. of the precise aims and objects which the Lokmanya
inc-pleated b7 his teachings
throu~ these newa-
----
i....rm.1Blll1uor
Bhop.lhrby
DA-.J•y"
R,meA- ~i
l
v.
Chari& Colll'l.lis··
•ior.t!8 • Bo11:t•)
, '
1962
Lax111&il-Balw1111C
BMftatkaJ b.J
Dr. Dlw.nanjaya ,
, Rameflandra~Gaclgil
v.·
Chari'7 Cirnmfs.
si1ner1 &mb•y
-
634
SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1963]
papers.' -It·._ was possibly , a.Ssumed · that .the life
and foleals for . which the ; Lokmanya · stood,. and. in
particular the matters which he considered as the
prime purpose and, policy ' of these two newspapers
'with which he 'was connected for over two decades,
'were matters' of history so' well-knoWn . to the
Courts and authorities in Maharashtra and therefore
A:nani.d~ J.--·- - - on which no- formal evidence was . required . to be
adduced. We would however, add that such evid~
' ence on the record would have lightened our task
and that it is with this . handicap that the point
-in controversy in the appeal 'has to be decided.
.
-
\ ·
·This might be the. convenient stage ·,at which
reference could be made .to a previous. occasion·
when the interpretation of the trJist-deed with particular reference fo the question -of its character. as
: a public charitable trust ca.me -up for consideration
before· .the Courts. , Section 4 (3) of the _ ID.dian
Income-tax Act, 1922 exempts from income tax'~any
income derived from property held under. a trust or ·
· other legal obligation wholly for, religious or . charit·
' able. purposes in so far as such income is applied. or
· is accumulated for application . to such religous, or
charitable purpose _ ........ ., .. " . The section iarried
a definition of "charitable purpose" whicoh' was
stated . to include "relief , of. the poor, , educa.tion,
medical relief and the advancement ,of any other
object of general . public utility" which, it would be
seen, ii! in terms the saine as th"l definition of a
"charitable purpose" under the Act. The claim
of"tho Kesari and. Mahratha Trush" to exemption
under this provision came up ·for -consideraticiri
before the High Court of Bombay on a refernnce
under s.
66 (2) of the lridian Income-tax Act. The ---'
reference was heard by Beaumont, C. J., and Ran-
. - gnekar, J., and the leilrned'Chief Justice delivering
- · the judgment of the Court said:
·
--
-.;To my,mind.the,trnst which i.s contamed
j:μ cl. I of t_he derd fa too"va~ue and wide W
,·
2 S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
635
be regarded as a charitable trust within
1862
"! 7
the meaning of the Income-tax: Act. Some
of the purposes, no doubt, are charitable but
'·
others are not and the whole of the funds
may be applied to non-charitable purposes.
The purposes include organising public movements i.nd even if you limit those general
words by the words 'ca.lculated t'o promote
the national ideal', it seems to me impossible
to say that the promotion.of public moveLazman Balwant
Bhopalkar .1!1
Dr. DhanOJl!OJ<I
Ramchandr• <Jll4fjl
1
ments calculated in the view of the trustees to
promote the national ideal can be regarded as
necessarily of public utility."
The learned J'udges therefore held that the trust
was not entitled to exempt.ion under s. 4(3) of the
Income-tax: Act.
Learned Counsel for the appellant did not contend before .us that .this judgment
was res judicata in these proceedings for the denision of the matter now before us, but as expressing
the views of the learned Judges on the construction of the document whose interpretation is the
,, subject of dispute in the present case. With these
obaervations we shall put aside that decision and
: )
procee'1 to construe the terms of cl. ( 1) of the deed
to find out how far the object sought to be achieved
are within the definition of "qharitable purpose"
within the Act.
In doing this, it would be convenient first to
set out the construction which found favour with
the learned Judges of the High Court in' the judgment now under appeal and then consider the submissions made by learned Counsel on either side.
Referring to cl. 1 and the 'Jlatters to which it refers
as needed to be done for fulfilling the objects of ·
the trust, the learned Judges said that these were :
(I) the awakening .in the minds of the people a
consciousness of their political rights by spreading
the knowledge of politics through the newspapera
••
Charl!J~mia-
•ion#r, /JtimliOJ
1962
La.xman B1'1wanf
BMpatkar b.1
Dr. Dhannj o)'a
Ramlh~dro Cac!gil
v.
Charity Comm;s.
siDner, Bombay
636
SUPREME OOURT REPOR1'S (1963]
"Kesari" and "l\fahratha'' a.ad (2) organising various
public movements calculated to promote the
national ideal. They went on to state that the second
purpose could not amount to a charitable purpose
under the Bombay Public Trust Act and observed :
"As the naturo and character of the public movements which were to be promoted for
furthering the national ideal were not even
indio1itotl, much less specified it seems impossible to say that the organisation of public
movements which in the opinion of the trustees might be calculated to promote the
national ideal can be regarded necessarily as
an object of general public utility within the
meaning of clauso (4) of section !I of the Act.
Those public movements would
ohviously
not fall under e.ay of the other clauses of section 9 either. Clearly, therefore, the second
of the two purposes mentioned in clause l of
the trust-deed cannot be considerPd a. charitable purposes."
' .
'
·.
They, however, were of the view that the first purposc, viz., of "a.wakening a consciousness of politi-
~·
cal rights among the people by spreading the know-
-..
ledge of polities through the newspapers" would be
a charitable purpose.
In this context they considered that the decisions of tho English Courts that
the attainment of political purposes would not be
a charitable purpose as advancing a.n object of genera.I public utility could not ho applied in India.,
a.ad that oven if the same were applicable, that
under the Trust-deed before them, the awakening
of political consciousness among the people was
not identical with the advancement of political
obje·ctl! and that the a.wakenin'l of such oonsoiousneBB need not necessarily be for achieving a politi·
cal purpose being out of the way they considered
t.tu.t the awakening of suoh oonaciousn- would be
. " ,
2 S.C.R.
SUPREME OOURT REPORTS
637
an advancement of an object of public utility.
Several points were raised by learned Counsel
for the appellant in support of his contention that
the trust-deed did not create a charitablll trust.
His first submission was that the learned Judges
of the High Court were wrong in considering that
there were two objects to be subserved by the trust
for the attainment of which the trust was founded,
but only a single object and that that object was
political in its nature and that consequently it was
not a charitable purpose within the meaning of the
law. His next submission was that even if there
were two objects as the learned Judges of the High
Court had held, they were not really independent
objects but both of them were dominated by a
single purpose which was political in its nature. At
the base of both of these interpretations of the
deed lay the submission that the object to be attained by the trust was politic&!, and if so, it was not
eharitable.
-
We consider that there is considerable force in
the submission of learned Counsel that the trust
has been founded with a view to achieve a single
objective or purpose, viz., "the fulfilment perpetually and uninterruptedly" of "the object with which
the late Lokmanya took up all_ 11._~tivities after he
took charge of the
newspapers 'Kesari' and
'Mahratha'." It might be, that the activities for
which the newspapers were utilised after he took
charge of them disclosed more than purpose, but the
common link between every such line of activity
was that it stemmed from a. political purpose, for
the newspapers were ma.de to serve as the vehicle
for achieving his objectives. 'fhe question therefore
as to the purpose of the trust would have to be
resolved by examining . the various activities in
which he himself engaged and the object with which
Ji.e engaged in them, but the latter is not the baeis
1962
Laxman B 1 JwanJ
'Bhopallcar6v
Dr. Lhananj9a
Romehantlra Gadgi i
••
Charily Comn.issioner, Bomba.]
A,1Jangai' J ,
--· . -- . -
638 .
SUPR~ COURT REPORTS [1963]
upon which the High Court has proceeded in reach·
· L-xmnn.B•l"''"'
ing a finding that the trust-deed disclosed a duality ·
B1"'patk4..b'
of purpose one of which the learned Judges recognisDrdJharwn).,.
ed was not charitable but the other was· held to be
Bomdia~'f•Gaagil so; · The words in the second limb of the first clause
CMriJ, comm;..
referring to "the spreading of political educatiOn
,;.,,,,,Bomba, .. through the newspapers and thereby making people
alive to their political right.>" and · secondly "the
carrying. on other multifarious public activities
conducive to the national ideal" were really meant
· as illustrations of activities. undertaken by the late
Lokinanya during his life-time as is manifest by the
·· use of the words "such as" before. the clause. .If
the object with which the Lokmanya took up his
activities after he assumed charge of the newspapers
was dominated by a political purpose and the. newspapers were used by him to achieve that objective,
the illustrations of his activitieR set out in the clause
must be similarly construed. But to this· we ·shall
revert later.
This apart, there is one other way in which
·the. ; matter· might be approached. ,The . learned
Judges of the High Court have held.that the object
signified by the words "carrying on other multifarious
public activities conducive to the national ideal"
was much too vague to serve as an object or purpose
of an enforceable truat, for besides the. vagueness
involved in the description of the activity as "con·
ducive to the national ideal etc", there is a further
vagueness introduced by the words "other multifarious public activities". . One mode of testing . the
validity of this object would be whether one. cculd
uphold the deed as constituting a valid enforceable
charitable purpose if it had merely ·made provision
. for'~ the trust-fund being utilized . for carrying on
·multifarious public activities conducive to . the
national ideal etc." It is obvious that this question.
could.be;answered only ,in one way and -that in
1favour of holding that the tn1st ~as too vague t9
._,
~·-
2 s;c.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 639
•
btt valid. If therefore the last portion of the . clause
was left out of account, two questions would have
to
be considered: ( 1) whether - on
a ·proper
cionstructio.1 of cl. ( l) read with the rest of the
deed, the object sought to be achieved is or is
not a single one, and (2) whether the object
indicated by the
words · "spreading of politica.l
education through the newspa.pers and· thereby
making people alive to their political rights" would
be a. charitable purpose within· the meaning
of s. 9 of the Act? If the last part of the clause (1)
were cut out, as too va5ue, the object of the True~
. would read, to quote the relevant words "the·
fulfilment perpetually and uninterruptedly of the
very object with which he (the Lokmanya) took up
all activities after he took charge of the newspapers
such as spreading political education through these
newspapers and thereby making people alive to their
political rights." We shall immediately proceed ·to
deal with the import of the words "the very object
with which he took up all activities after he . took
eharge of the newspapers", but before we do so we
might state .that we have no hesitation in holding
that the words of the clause we have just extracted
indicate but a single purpose, viz., the fulfilment
of the objects with which Tilak took up all activities
after he took charge of the two newspapers.
We have earlier drawn attention to the feature
that no evidence was placed before the authorities
under the Act or before the Courts as to the object
which the Lokmanya sought to achieve by the two
newspapers, Learned Counsel for the appellant
invited our attention to the reported decision of the
Bombay High Uourt where certain writings and
articles of the late Lokmanya came up for consideration, and
in
particular to
the articles
_.., which formed the subject-matter of the charges
against the' Lokmanya
in
prosecutions
for
sedition.
But if one were confined to these,
IllJJ
laa;man Balwcmt
Bhopalkar by
Dr. Dkananj.ja
Ra,,., .. ndra Qadgil
••
Ch•rily Commls·
'aimn-. Bomb41
A)l)'angaf'J.
la1rman Balwant
BhapaU.or i,.
Dt. Dharr njnya
ltorr.Mhrndra GadgU
..
l/10• i'y Cc.mmi~
sitn1tt, B~,
640
SUPREME OOURT REPORTS [1963]
they roust obviously give us only a partial and
truncated idea of hie
activities and so are apt to
afford but a distortel1 picture of the objects with
which the two newspapers were conducted.
We
therefore examined the literature bearing on the
life and work of this great leader and particularly
two reoent books on the topic "Bala Gangadhar
Tilak by Parvate (1958) which waa brought to our
attt1ntion by Mr. Sanyal appearing for the respond·
ent, and Lokroanya Tilak by Dha.nanjay Keer (September, 1959)". In doing so we have confined ourselves to the facts there stated and have refrained
from taking into account the evaluation by the
authors of l'ile.k'e activities or their comments on
any particular views on public or social matters
entertained by the subject of their biography.
. "
• c:
As a result of this examination we gather the
followin!! facts which are of relevance to the point
before us.
Tilak, though he 'waB
aeeociated with
the two newspapers from their start in or a.bout
1881, took over the editorship of the Kesari in 1887
and became the sole proprietor of both the papers
"
by 1893 and waa in charge . of their conduct till hie
death in 1920. Tila.k was a public figure who dominated the political firmament of the country for
near three decades. He was a rebel against politi- I
'
cal wrongs. He W88 a. champion of all who were
oppreeaed and conceived it a.s his sacred mission to
rouse the people to a. sense of their wrongs and of
/ <;
their strength in winning their ea.lva.tion, for it W88
his firm conviotion that petty tyranny by the fore-
~ ~
ign bureaucracy W88 po88ible because of the ignorance of the people and their apathy to their condi·
tion. His idea.e might be 11leaned from hie observation that people must fight for the vindioa.tion of
their rights a.nd that thoec wbo ,;ere unmoved a.t
the sight of injustice and tho high handed policy of
the Government. should not be regarded e.e human
,..
beings. The two newepapera wPre intended by Tilak
•
'
'
J
~·
.
2 S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
641
to be the meohanism by which the wrongs done to
the people should be brought home to · them and
their conscience roused to a sense 'of the injustices
and oppressions to which they were subjected. In
undertaking the responsibility of running the Kesari and the Mahratha it was a clear indication of his
resolve to throw himself completely into public life
and to devote himself to the task of the political
education of the masses. He wrote in the Kesari
about every public grievance and every public cause
and this uiade him the champion of popular causes
and a mass leader. The two the Kesari and the
Mahratha were in no sense mere newspapers. They
were 'primarily
views-papers, vehicles of public
opinion and the news they contained were carefully
sEJlected to be helpful to the views propagated in
them. Tilak looked upon Kesari as the chief veh·
icle for propagating his views as he wanted them
to be disseminated as widely as possible. The
objective determined its sty le; it wiui direct, simple
forthright.
The papers championed the cause of
the underdog and everywhere fought against injust•
ice, contained a study of public complaints and
grievances, exposed oppressive officers, criticised
fearlessly and made constructive suggestions for the
reform of the administration and champion"d the
peoples cause in every cense. · During Tilak's days
Tilak !tDd Kesa.ti became synonymous terms. · ~he
Kesari had been the citadel of the national fight
and remained impregnable even through repressive
campaigns and became a national as8et. It was
Tilak's corfirmed view that the ilia of the nation
demanded political reforms and not "immediate social reforms. Tilak challenged the right of the
foreign bureaucracy to' sit in legislative judgment
on Indian society. 1t was the view of Tilak that
respect. must be paid to the prejudices of people and
that one must try to make the humblest of them
feel that he was one of them. Tilak was convinced
1902
Laxman B alW«nt
Bhopatli ar by
Dr. DhananjGys
. Ramchandt'a Gadgil
v.
.
Charity Commisftoner, BomlJt(JI
~,,angar J.
,
IHI
Lazman Balwanl
B/ro#•th• b.1
1". DAa"°'liaJO
Ra.tltaadra Gadgll
v.
C"°ri~ Commit·
sieMP,Bftlb41
-'na-p• J.
642
SUPREME OOURT REPORTS [1963)
of the futility of appeals to people made in the form
of Apeecbc11 ancl resolutions with tbcir eyes fixp,d towardR Govern'l;ent a1;d reali8cd thRl the Indian
?llational Con~r"ss with,. J,ich he was· closely associated from· 1889 wo ild be able to ameliorate the
condition of the people if the maBBes were attracted
tn it and their power harnessed to the chariot of
the CongreBB. It was the main role in his life to
stir up the people against their poverty, degradation and slavery. To foster opposition to British
rule, to bring people into conflict with Government
and to make Government unpopular was the great
aim of Tilak's speeches, writinus, and leadership.
The enthusiasm and vigour of the ptople had to be
utilized for keeping up their pride in the achif'VCments of their ancestors and as a means of educating the ctimmon people.
He sought to rouse the
pride of the peopl1- in their past heroes so as to
unify them into one body to achieve polit.ical liber·
ation. His plea was that people &hould be taught
what their rights were and how they could get their
grievances redreescd. That was the way to increase
the influonoo of the Congress.
He taught people
to aot fearlessly though peacefully and lawfully and
get their grievances redressed, for tbe principle
underlying his philosophy was that foreign yoke
could be over thrown only when people were awak·
ened and discontented, when it is not poBBible for
a foreign Government to hold them under its sway.
Without attracting the attention of tbe people to
th'l unjust state of affairs no political progrll88 was
possible, nor reform in tho administration. From
about 1903 Tilak was gradually ,shifting to what the
Moderatl·s used to call Extremism, smouldering as
he was at the apathy shown by the Moderate leadel'll
towards active politics.
The CongreBB which gave
occaeion for or,\I ors brandishing polished phrases
and ended with prayers and petitions ha.d grown
sterile. He was coming to realise that politios
must 00886 to be the pastime of the old orators and
i
•
..
,
I
2 S.C.R.
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
643
title holders. Though he felt that the record of the
Congress left no room for di~appointment or despair, its triumph lay in awakening the soul of the
nation. The Moderates accepted British rule as
a divine dispensation but the militant nationalists
led by Tilak-refused to believe in the doctrine of
divine dispensation. After the partition of Bengal
in 1905 and the agitation which followed it Tilak
wrote articles.discussing the policy of boycott of
foreign, goods, and particularly of foreign cloth,
and he considered that a boycott on a national scale
was the proper remedy,
but its results depended
upon actions and not upon words. Tilak was then
the spearhead of the 8wadeshi movement, but even
here it was fired and ine.pired by a political purpose, for he said :
"If the Indian Government dissociates
itself from the commercial <tspirations of the
British Nation, then it will be time for Swadeshi workers to consider the question of dissociating their movement from politics. But so
long as politics and commerce are blended
together in the policy of the Government of
India, it will be a blender to dissociate Swadeshi movement from politjcs."
And in the Kesari he declared that if it was
unavoidable to use a foreign article, they should
give preference to articles produced in Asiatic
countries and the next preference should be given
to other European countries and America.
It was Tilak who made it the mission of his
life to arouse the people against ·political slavery
and foreign rule. He resolved to organise the people under the banner of the Congress and to make
it the real spokesman of the people. The two newspapers served as the vehicle threugh which he aimed
to achieve these objects. Possibly nothing brings
911-t JD.Ore forcibly the purpose and aim of th~
La.tman Ba!rot111f
Bhopatk ... 67
Dr. Dhonanj ua
Ramchandra !1ad1ll
••
'charitp Commi ...
sioner, BombaJ
A.yyangar J.
19111
Lu.xr 011 Ba 1wa11I
Dr. Bhqpaltat' b.1
Bamdtondta 1,adg1i
v.
Oha1it7 1.omnris·
nunit, B~7
644
SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1963)
. Lokmanya which animateQ. his conduct of the newspapers than a self-appraisal which is extracted in
the ·biography by Parvate already referred to.
A controversy arose in 1919 about Tilak's
neglect of or apathy to social reform and his exclusive attention to political progress and there was
an attack by Dr. Paranjpye on this aspect of the
matter in an article in the Bombay Chronicle reviewing Tilak's sins of omiseion and commission.
Tilak published a rejoinder in which he reviewed
his whole career. In the cours9 of this letter Tilak
said, "My views on political and social matters are
well-known to the public. The charge against me
is that my activity and propaganda are one-sided.
I do not hold that social reC1onstruction must be
undertaken prior to political
emancipation. I
attach greater importance to the latter." Speaking
of the J{esari he said, ••It is true that I made it an
organ exclusively of political propaganda. I do not
deny it, but at the same time let me point out that
the political awakening in Maharashtra since then
is more the work of this paper and my party than
Mr. Paranjpye and the men of his ilk."
Before concluding this part of the case it is
neoeseary to refer to an aspect of tbe matter arising
out of our summary of the Lokmanya's activities
whioh he pursued thr<'Jugh the two newspapers. It
would be seen that he was wholly concerned with
achieving the intimate association of the people and
their representatives in the administration and governance of the country, and if possible, the entire elimination of foreign rule altogether, and the two newspapers were utilised for educating and rousing people
to achieve these. What Tilak's policy or activities
would have been after complete independence had
been achieved a.nrl the policy which he would have
the papers pursue subsequently is an interesting
question, but one which we consider not relevant
' .
...
2 S.C .