IMPORTANT POINT
The court established that while leave to file a suit under Section 92 C.P.C. can be granted, it does not prevent defendants from contesting the maintainability of the suit based on the applicability of the section.

ORDER :

Prayer: Civil Revision Petition is filed under Article 227 of the Constitution of India to set aside the impugned order and decreetal order passed by the Principal District Judge, Thanjavur in I.A.No. 131 of 2022 in UF OS dated 05.09.2022 granting leave to the second and third respondents to institute the suit in the name of the first respondent Trust under Section 92 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908.

1. The Civil Revision Petition is directed against the order passed in I.A.No. 131 of 2022 in unnumbered suit dated 05.09.2022, on the file of the Principal District Court, Thanjavur, granting leave to file the suit under Section 92 C.P.C.

2. Originally, the said suit was filed before the Principal Subordinate Court, Thanjavur and the petition filed under Section 92 C.P.C., was taken on file in I.A.No. 54 of 2021 in unnumbered suit, that the revision petitioner / first defendant along with the fourth defendant has filed a Tr.O.P., in Tr.O.P.No. 29 of 2021, on the file of the Principal District Court, Thanjavur seeking transfer of the petition in I.A.No. 54 of 2021 in unnumbered suit on the file of the Principal Subordinate Court, Thanjavur to the file of the Principal District Court to try along with the suit in O.S.NO. 42 of 2020, pending on the file of the Principal District Court, Thanjavur and that the learned Principal District Judge, vide order dated 10.06.2022 allowed the transfer petition and ordered to withdraw the petition in I.A.No. 54 of 2022 in unnumbered O.S., pending on the file of the Principal Subordinat Court, Thanjavur and transfer the same to the Principal District Court, Thanjavur. After transfer, the petition filed under Section 92 C.P.C., was taken on file in I.A.No. 131 of 2022 and the learned Principal District Judge, upon considering the pleadings of the parties and arguments of both sides, has passed the impugned order allowing the petition filed under Section 92 C.P.C. Aggrieved by the order granting leave, the first defendant has preferred the present Civil Revision Petition.

3. No doubt, as rightly pointed out by the learned Senior Counsel for the revision petitioner, the learned Principal District Judge, by observing that there is no bar for filing the petition under Section 92 C.P.C., by the Trustees as against Co-Trustees, that the relief to be granted under Section 92 C.P.C., for leave to file the suit is only an administrative action and the merits of the suit claim need not be adjudicated, passed a brief order allowing the petition.

4. It is pertinent to note that the plaintiffs have filed a lengthy affidavit running to 22 paragraphs in 17 pages in support of the petition filed under Section 92 C.P.C., and whereas the revision petitioner/first defendant and the fourth defendant have filed a lengthy counter statement running to 23 paragraphs in 12 pages.

5. A suit under Section 92 C.P.C., is a suit of special nature. Generally the Court is considered as the guardian of the Public Charitable Trust / Institution. The Courts have a general parens patriae jurisdiction over the trusts of charitable and religious nature and the Courts are bound to guard the interest of the trust, since it involves the question of public interest. In the case of Chairman Madappa vs. M.N. Mahanthadevaru and Others, 1966 AIR 878, the Constitution Bench of the Hon'ble supreme Court has held that the main purpose of Section 92 C.P.C., is to give protection to public trusts of a charitable or religious nature from being subjected to harassment by suits being filed against them. The Hon'ble Supreme Court, while considering the scope of Section 92(1) C.P.C., has specifically observed that the said section provides for two class of cases, namely, (i) where there is a breach of trust in a trust created for public purposes of a charitable or religious nature, and (ii) where the direction of the court is deemed necessary for the administration of any such trust. In order to invoke Section 92 C.P.C., the following conditions ha