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W.N. Allal Sundaram v. The Commissioner H.R. & C.E. Admn. Department & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2019 INSC 1274Decided 22 Nov 2019
Civil Appeal No. 8349 of 2017
Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud · Justice Ajay Rastogi

Background

The appellant's suit concerned a choultry (a rest-house/charitable facility for pilgrims) linked to the Sri Swamiya Dhamodara Perumal Temple, built under a 1926 Deed of Settlement by one Bagyammal, from whom the appellant traced his claim. The Commissioner of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department had declared the related Bagyammal Trust property to be a "specific endowment" under the Tamil Nadu HR&CE Act, 1959, bringing it under the Department's regulatory control. The appellant sued to set aside this order and to have the trust declared outside the Act's purview; the trial court ruled in his favour, but the Madras High Court reversed that decision on appeal, holding the property was indeed a specific endowment.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and upheld the High Court's ruling. It examined the 1926 Deed of Settlement in detail and found that Bagyammal had been entrusted with constructing the choultry specifically to serve pilgrims visiting the temple, that there was an express restraint against creating any encumbrance on the property, and that no personal right over the choultry could be claimed by Bagyammal or her successors, all pointing clearly to a dedication for a specific religious/charitable purpose. Applying the statutory definition of "specific endowment" under Section 6(19) of the 1959 Act and relevant precedent, the Court held the trial court had erred in finding no specific endowment existed, and that the High Court was correct to reverse that finding.

Lesson Learnt

When a property is dedicated under a settlement deed for a defined religious or charitable purpose, with restrictions on alienation and no personal right of ownership retained by the person managing it, courts will treat it as a "specific endowment" subject to religious-endowment regulation, regardless of who originally built or maintained the facility.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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