Leach, C.J.

1. This appeal arises out of a suit for an account and other reliefs instituted by certain trustees against their co-trustees on the Original Side of this Court. In Royapuram, Madras, is an Indian Hindu temple known as Subrahmanyaswami Koil, which belongs, according to the pleadings, to the Pattinava sect of the Hindus. The plaintiffs case is that in 1922 a meeting of the members of the community was held at Royapuram at which the plaintiffs and defendants 1 to 3 were elected trustees for the purpose of collecting subscriptions for the improvement of the temple, for the performance of the rites therein and for the conduct of festivals and other cognate matters, with power to spend the collections on these objects. It is common ground that this meeting was held and that the plaintiffs and defendants 1 to 3 were elected trustees for these purposes. The contesting defendants, defendants 2 and 3, however, aver that the duties of the trustees were not confined to the temple and say that they were also given authority to collect and spend for the good of the community in general and for purposes of general utility. The plaintiffs allege that defendants 1 and 2 were act