Invoation of the provisions of Section 94 of the Act in respect of religious trust.

The revision petition is against an order granting permission to sell properties under Sec.34 of the Indian Trusts Act. The petitioner herein is the Commissioner, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments, who was not impleaded as a party original petition filed by the first respondent on coming to know of the Order. The on coming to know of the proceedings intervened as an objector to the original petition contended that the petition under Sec.34 of the Indian Trusts Act was not maintainable. According to the petitioner, it is a religious trust and as such excluded from the Indian Trusts Act, 1882.

2. Sec.1 of the Indian Trusts Act expressly excludes the applicability of the Act to public private religious or charitable endowments.

3. The trust was created by one K.Srinivasan Iyengar, father of respondents 1 and 2 herein, under a deed dated 25.10.1945. The relevant portions of the document read as follows:

"......I, K.Srinivasan Iyengar B.A., B.L., Advocate, son of P.S.Krishnaswami Iyengar, Brahmin Vaishnavite, out of my free will and without any fear or bias and in my good senses do make this declaration of trust and execute this trust deed of which the particulars are as follows.... Declaration of Trust: I hereby declare and dedicate and indicate with certainty by this deed and by these words on intention on my part to create this trust. I hereby dedicate the undermentioned properties and their entire income to the trust and the fulfilment of the purposes herein mentioned. This shall never be construed as a mere case of the properties being burdened with the trust for the mere performance of these objects. Properties herein mentioned shall form the assets of this Trust which shall be called S.R.S.K. (Srirangaraja Rama Srinivasa Krishna) Srinivasa Iyengar’s family trust estate...... Duration of the Trust: It shall come into effect from 1st April, 1946. It shall be permanent and eternal. Its purposes shall never be deemed to have been completely fulfilled. This is charitable and religious trust and is created wholly for the fulfilment of the objects of the trust which are herein mentioned. All the income from the undermentioned properties shall be applied for the said religious and charitable purposes and if any portion of the said income is unspent for any reason whatsoever it shall be added and incorporated in the funds held under the trust........ Beneficiaries of the Trust: (i) Sri Vaishnava religion; (ii) Sri Vaishnava community; (iii) Poorvesika Sri Vaishnava community; (iv) My descandants.......”

4. The founder nominated himself as the first trustee and manager for the period of his lifetime and prescribed that after his lifetime his two sons, who are the respondents herein and all their legitimate male descendants in the male line shall be the trustees from generation to generation. The purposes of the trust are very clearly set out in the document, a few of them being the propagation of Sri Vaishnaviam as propounded by the Vedas, Vedantas, Upanishads, Smiritis etc., and by the Alwars and Sir Vaishnava Acharyas and others, the advancement of the Sri Vaishnava community in general and the poorvasika Sri Vaishnava community in particular and the advancement of such of the members of the Poorvasiks Sri Vaishnava community who give an undertaking to preserve the communal Mark (Sika) and religious mark (Ocrdwa pundrama). The other objects are the feeding of the poor and pilgrims in general especially of the Poorvasika Sri Vaishnava community ordinarily and in times of festivity in Srirangam, Tiruvellarai, Srivilliputhur and Thirukoshtiyur and other centres of the Poorvasika Sri Vaishnava community and the renovation of temples and deities and other things attached to it and the creation and provision of Naivedyams Tiruvellarai so long as they remain in their original sanctity. It is not necessary to set out detail the other objects. Suffice it to point out that the founder took care to assert repeatedly that he