AIR 1981 SUPREME COURT 798 ::1981 UJ (SC) 671 ::1981 (2) SCC 226 ::(1981) 94 Mad LW 85 ::(1981) 51 Cut LT 495 ::1981 51 CutLT 495

Supreme Court Of India

(From : ILR (1970) Cut 196)

Hon'ble Judge(s): S. Murtaza Fazal Ali, A. Varadarajan, Amarendra Nath Sen , JJJ

(A) Hindu Law - Religious endowments - Private trust or public trust - Tests to determine.ILR (1970) Cut 196, Reversed. Orissa Hindu Religious Endowments Act (4 of 1939) , S.62(2)— Charitable and Religious Trusts Act (14 of 1920) , S.3— There can be religious trust of a privte character under the Hindu Law which is not possible in English law, it is well settled that under the Hindu law it is not only permissible but also very common to have private endowments which though are meant for charitable purposes yet the dominant intention of the founder is to instal a family deity in the temple and worship the same in order to effectuate the spiritual benefit to the family of the founder and his descendants and to perpetuate the memory of the founder. In such cases, the property does not vest in God but in the beneficiaries who have installed the deity. In other words, the beneficiaries in a public trust are the general public or a section of the same and not a determinate body in individuals as a result of which the remedies for enforcement of charitable trust are somewhat different from those which can be availed of by the beneficiaries in a private trust. The members of the public may not be debarred from entering the temple and worshipping the deity but entry into the temple is not as of right. The is one of the cardinal tests of a private endowment. The quest....