MADHYA PRADESH PUBLIC TRUSTS ACT, 1951

M.P. Act No. XXX of 1951

30th November, 1951

An act to regulate and to make better provisions of the administration of public, religious and charitable trusts in the State of Madhya Pradesh Whereas it is expedient to regulate and to make better provision of the administration of public, religious and charitable trust in the State of Madhya Pradesh, It is hereby enacted as follows:--

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S.1 Short title, extent and operation

(1)- This Act may be cited as the Madhya Pradesh Public Trusts Act, 1951.

1[(2) It extends to the whole of Madhya Pradesh.

(3) This section shall come into force at once and Section 2 to 38 shall be in force in Mahakoshal region, and, and shall come into force in other regions of the State on such date, as the State Government may, by Notification in the Official Gazette direct.

S.2 Definitions

In this Act unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context.

(1) "Court" means the principal Civil Court of original jurisdiction in the district;
(2) "math" means an institution for the promotion of the Hindu religion presided over by a person whose duty it is to engage himself in imparting religious instructions or rendering spiritual service to a body of disciples or who exercises or claims to exercise headship over such a body and includes places of religious worship or instruction which are appurtenant to the institution.
(3) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act.
(4) "public trust" means an express or constructive trust for a public, religious or charitable purpose and includes a temple, a math, a mosque, a church, a wakf or any other religious or charitable endowment and a society formed for a religious or charitable purpose.
(5) "Register" means a register maintained under sub-section (2) of

S.3 Registrar of Public Trusts

(1) The Collector shall be the Registrar of Public Trusts in respect of every public trust the principal office or the principal Place of business of which as declared in the application made under sub-section (3) section 4 is situate in his district.

(2) The Registrar shall maintain a register of public trusts, and such other books and registers and in such form as may be prescribed.

S.4 Registration of public trust

(1) Within three-months from the date on which this section comes into force in any area or from the date on which a public trust in created, whichever is later, the working trustee of every public trust shall apply to the Registrar having jurisdiction for the registration of the public trust.

(2) Such application shall be accompanied by such fees, if any, not exceeding five rupees as may be prescribed.

(3) The application shall be in such from as may be prescribed and shall among other thing contain the following particulars, namely -

(i) The origin, nature and object of the trusts.
(ii) the place where the principal office or the principal place of business of the trust is situated.
(iii) the names and addresses of the working trustee and the manager.
(iv) the mode of succession to the trustee.,
(v) the list of movable and immovable trust property in the State and such description and particulars as may be sufficient

S.5 Inquiry for registration

(1) On receipt of an application under Section 4 or upon an application made by any person having interest in a public trust or on his own motion, the Registrar shall make an inquiry in the prescribed manner for the purpose of ascertaining.

(i) whether the trust is a public trust;
(ii) whether any property is the properly of the trust;
(iii) whether the whole or any substantial portion of the subject matter of the trust in situated within his jurisdiction;
(iv) the names and addresses of the trustee and the manager of such trust;
(v) the mode of succession to the office of the trustee of such trust;
(vi) the origin, nature and object of such trust;
(vii) the amount of gross average annual income and the expenditure of such trust; and
(viii) the correctness or otherwise of any other particulars furnished under subsection (3) of Section 4.

S.6 Findings of the Registrar

On completion of the inquiry provided for under section 5, the Registrar shall record his findings with reasons therefor as to the matters mentioned in the said section.

S.7 Registrar to make entries in the register

(1) The Registrar shall cause entries to be made in the register in accordance with the findings recorded by him under Section 6 and shall publish on the notice board of his office the entries made in the register.

(2) The entries so made shall, subject to the provisions of this Act and subject to any change recorded under any provision of this Act or a rule made thereunder, be final and conclusive.

S.8 Civil suit against the finding of the Registrar

(1) Any working trustee or person having interest in a public trust or any property found to be trust property, aggrieved by any finding of the Registrar under Section 6 may, within six months from the date of the publication of the notice under sub-section (1) of Section 7, institute a suit in a civil court to have such finding set aside or modified.

(2) In every such suit, the civil court shall give notice to the State Government through the Registrar, and the State Government, if it so desires, shall be made a party to the suit.

(3) On the final decision of the suit, the Registrar shall, if necessary, correct the entries made in the register in accordance with such decision.

S.9 Change

(1) Where any change occurs in any of the entries recorded in the register the working trustee shall, within ninety days from the date of the occurrence of such change or where any change is desired in such entries in the interest of the administration of such public trust, report in the prescribed manner such change or proposed change to the Registrar.

(2) If, on receipt of such report and after making such inquiry as the Registrar may consider necessary, the Registrar is satisfied that a change has occurred or is necessary in any of the entries recorded in the register in regard to a particular public trust, he shall record a finding with the reasons therefor and subject to the provisions contained in sub-section (3), amend the entries in the said register in accordance with such finding.

(3) The provisions of Section 8 shall apply to any finding under this section as they apply to a finding under Section 6.

S.10 Intimation to the Collector about the trust property situated in his district

(1) Where any part of the trust property of a public trust is situate within the limits of more than one district, the Registrar shall forward a copy of the entries recorded in the register in respect of that public trust to all Collectors within whose jurisdiction any part of the trust property is situate.

(2) On receipt of any copy of entries under sub-section (1), the1 [Collector] shall cause the particulars in such entries to be entered in a register prescribed in that behalf.

S.11 Public trusts by will

In the case of the public trust which is created by a will, the executor of such will shall, within one month from the date on which the probate of the will is granted or within six months from the date of the testator's death, make an application for the registration of the trust in the manner provided in Section 4.

S.12 Notice to Registrar in a proceeding in which a document purporting to create a public trust is produced

If, in any proceeding before a Civil Court or a Revenue Officer, any document purporting to create a public trust is produced on any question before such Court or officer is likely to affect any entry in the register such Court or officer shall give notice to the Registrar of such proceedings and shall, if the Registrar applies in that behalf, make him a party to such proceedings.

S.13 Investment of public trust money

All monies belonging to a public trust other than monies required for the day-to-day expenditure of the trust shall be kept in a scheduled Bank or a Post Office Savings Banks or in any bank registered under the Co-operative Societies Act, 1912 (II of 1912), or with the approval of the Registrar with any banker or person acting as a banker who has given such security for the safe custody and repayment on demanded of the monies so deposited as the Registrar may in each case think sufficient:

Provided that the Registrar may, by general or special order, permit the trustee of any public trusts or class of such public trusts to invest the money in any other manner.

S.14 Previous sanction of Registrar, in cases of sale, etc., of property belonging to a public trust

(1) Subject to the directions in the instrument of trust or any direction given under this or any other law by any Court--

(a) no sale, mortgage, exchange or gift of any immovable properly: and
(b) no lease for a period exceeding seven years or for a period exceeding three years in the case of non-agricultural land or building.

belonging to a public trust, shall be valid without the previous sanction of the Registrar.

(2) The Registrar shall not refuse his sanction in respect of any transaction specified in sub-section (1) unless such transaction will, in his opinion be prejudicial to the interests of the public trust.

S.15 Maintenance of accounts

(1) The working trustee or manager of a public trust, shall keep regular accounts of all movable and immovable property.

(2) Such accounts shall be kept in such form as may be approved by the Registrar and shall contain such particulars as the Registrar may fix after hearing the working trustee.

S.16 Balancing and auditing of accounts

(1) The accounts kept under Section 15 shall be balanced each year on the 31st day of March or such other day as may be fixed by the Registrar.

(2) The accounts shall be audited annually in such manner as may, be prescribed any by a person who is a holder of a certificate granted under Section 144 of the Indian Companies Act, 1913 (VII of 1913), or is a member of an institution of association, the members of which have been declared under that section to be entitled to act as auditors of companies or by such persons as may be authorised in this behalf by the State Government or in the case of a public trust, the gross annual income of which does not exceed one thousand rupees, by a person approved by the Registrar by a general or special order.

(3) Every auditor acting under subsection (2) shall have access to the accounts and to all books, vouchers, other documents and records in the possession of, or under the control of working trustee or the manager.

(4) No

S.17 Auditor's duty to prepare balance sheet and to report irregularities, etc.

(1) It shall be the duty of every auditor auditing the accounts of a public trust under Section 16 to prepare a balance sheet and income and expenditure account and to forward a copy of the same to the Registrar within whose jurisdiction a public trust has been registered.

(2) The auditor shall, in his report specify all cases of irregularities, illegal or improper expenditure or failure or omission to recover monies or other property belonging to the public trust or waste of money or other property thereof and state whether such expenditure, failure, omission, loss or waste was caused in consequence of a breach of a trust, or misapplication or any other misconduct on the part of the trustee, or any other person.

S.18 Budget

The working trustee of every public trust, the gross annual income of which exceeds one thousand rupees shall, in each year, submit to the Registrar before such date and in such form as may be prescribed a budget showing the probable receipt and disbursement of the trust property during the following year.

S.19 Inspection of the budget, etc.

The budget the balance-sheet and the income and expenditure account and audit report, if any, of a public trust shall be open to inspection in the office of the Registrar by any person having interest in such trust on payment of such fee as may be prescribed.

S.20 Grant of certified copies

Subject to such conditions and on payment of such fee as may be prescribed, the Registrar shall, on an application made by any person having interest in public trust, grant to such person a certified copy of all or any of the documents referred to in Section 19.