( 1 ) * * *

( 2 ) BUT it was contended by Mr. Vakil that the findings arrived at by the Assistant Charity Commissioner and the entries made by him on the basis of these findings are not binding upon the plaintiffs who claim to be the beneficiaries of the trust. His contention in this respect was two-fold: (1) That those findings are only for the purposes of registration and are as between the Charity Commissioner and the 1st defendant as a trustee and that those findings and the entries made on the basis thereof do not decide any question as to the rights of third parties and (2) That a suit by such third parties is not affected by the decision of the Charity Commissioner and therefore a Civil Court would have jurisdiction to try such a suit.

( 3 ) MR. Vakil submitted that sections 17 18 19 and 20 of the Act deal only with registration of public trusts and not with the rights of parties and therefore sec. 80 of the Act which bars the jurisdiction of Civil Courts does not and cannot oust the jurisdiction of a Civil Court to declare a finding under sections 19 and 20 to be illegal and void if such a finding has been arrived at as a result of fraud.

( 4 ) CHAPTER IV of the Act no doubt is headed as one dealing with registration of public trusts and secs. 18 to 20 are contained in that chapter. To appreciate the contention it is necessary to examine these sections and ascertain their effect in the light of sec. 80 of the Act. Sec. 17 casts an obligation upon the Charity Commissioner to maintain amongst several other books and registers a register which shall contain such particulars as may be prescribed. Sec. 18 throws upon a trustee the obligation to apply for registration of the public trust of which he is a trustee. Sub-sec. (5) of sec. 18 provides that such an application shall inter alia contain the particulars set out therein and so far as is relevant for the purpose of this judgment the particulars called for are: (i) the designation by which the public trust is known; (II) the names and addresses of the trustees; (iii) the mode of succession to the office of the trustee; (iv) the approximate value of the movable and immovable property.

( 5 ) CLAUSE (viii) of sub-sec. (5) requires such other particulars which may be prescribed and which have to be given in the application. Under sec. 19 on such application made either under sec. 18 by a trustee or by any person having interest in a public trust or on his own motion the Deputy or the Assistant Charity Commissioner has to make an inquiry for the purpose of ascertaining: (I) whether a trust exists and whether such trust is a public trust (ii) whether any property is the property of such trust (iv) the names and addresses of the trustees and the manager of such trust (v) the mode of succession to the office of the trustee of such trust (viii) any other particulars as may be prescribed under sub-sec. (5) of sec. 18.

( 6 ) IT is necessary to observe in the light of this section and certain other sections of the Act to which I shall presently come to that the Act classifies these findings by the Deputy or the Assistant Charity Commissioner into two categories. The first category consists of items 1 and 2 in sec. 19 which are important as they would affect the rights of persons in relation to the properties found to be belonging to a public trust and the second category consists of the rest of the items in that section. This classification is reflected in secs. 72 and 79 of the Act. Under sec. 20 it is the duty of the Deputy or the Assistant Charity Commissioner to record his findings with the reasons therefore as to the matters mentioned in sec. 19 and under sec. 21 he has to make the entries in the register kept under sec. 17 in accordance with the findings recorded by him under sec. 20 Sub-sec. (2) of sec. 21 then lays down that the entries so made shall subject to the provisions of the Act and subject to any change recorded under the provisions following sec. 21