U. P. SUNNI CENTRAL WAKF BOARD versus MD. ALIM & ORS.

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U. P. SUNNI CENTRAL WAKF l'IOARI> v. Md. ALIM &: ORS. May 7, 1971

[K. S. HEGDE AND A. N. GROVEi\, 11.J

Uttar Pradesh Muslim Waqfs Act, 1960-Religious Enduwm.m· Ai:t;. 1861 '1ct 20 of 1863-District Judge has no power to fill in vacancy on.th!!" comnutttte constituted ultder the latter A.ct.

Tho Waqf of tho Durgah at Fatehpuri is one of tho Waqfa to which. the provision! of tho Uttar Pradesh Muslim Waqfs Act, 1960 applied. When· vacancies arose on the committee of Management constituted under tbe Religious Endowment Act, 1861 (Act 20 of 1863) and these ·wore not filled by election in terms of s. 10 of this Act, tho appellant Board, constituted under the 1960 Act, filled in tho vacancies acting under tho provisions of the Act. Thereupon respondent no. 1 filed an application in tho court of tho District Juda• under Act 20 of 1863 to appoint persons to fill in tht vacancies. Tho District Judge hold that ho had the power to reconstitut• th• managing committee under s. 10 of Act 20 of 1863 and directed that the vacancies be filled in according to tho rules. Tho Hlah Court in revi• sion came to tho conclusion that there was no provision in tho 1960 Act cor rospondina to 1. 13 of Act 20 of 1863 which cast an additional respon· sibility on tho committee·to keep in its custody accounts and consequently held tbat tho Committee conititutod under Act 20 of 1863 could 1till con· tinuo to discharge oomo of the functions assigned to it, and the District Judge was thus competent to entertain an .application u11dor 1. 10 thoreol.

HELD: Tho District Judge had no jurisdiction or power to fill hr vacancies on the Committee constituted under the provilions of Act 20> of 1863.

Sections 49 and SO of tho 1960 Act leave no room for doubt that ac· counts, which would include books of account, and all relevant records, deeds and documents have. to be in Mutawallf• custody and he is bound to produce them for inspection by tho Board whenever oo desired and Mutawalli accordina to tho definition includes a committee of manaaement. Tho Act is oolf contained and makes provision for complete ouperintondoru:e, administration and control of the Waqfs over which tho boards establish ed under s. 10 of tho 1960 Act, have jurisdiction.

Therefore, there cannot be an independent oxistelice of a committee constitutod under Act 20 of 1863 only for tho purpose of havini custody of books of account particularly when the 1960 Act fully contemplatoil and provides for the maintcnadt:e, custody etc. of accounts and account books by tho mutawalli. Thero is a clear inconsistency between its 11ro· visions and those of Act 20 of 1860 relatina to committees, their function ing and control.

[814F·Hl CIVIL APPELLATE JUR.ISDICTION

~ Civil Appeal No. 1021 of

1966.

Appeal by special leave from the judgment and decree da~

September 8; 1965 of the Allahabad High Court in Civil. Revisiom No. 76 of 1964.

u. p, SUNNI WAJ:P BOARD v. MOHD. ALlll (Grover,/.)

C. B. Aggarwala, K. L. Hathi, Quayamuddin Shah and P. C.

Kapoor, for the appellant.

M. C. Chag/a and S. S. Shukla, for respondent No. l(ii). S. K. Bagga and s. Bagga, for respondent Nos. 2(i) to (iii).

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The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

Grover,. J~This is an appeal by special leave from a judg· ment of the Allahabad High Court made in exercise of the revi· sional jurisdiction.

The appellant is a statutory board established under the pro visions of s. 10 of the Uttar Pradesh Muslim Waqfs Act, 1960. hereinafter called the 'Act'. The Act applies to all waqfs which at the time of its coming into force were under the ~uperintendence of the Sunni Central Board and the Shia Central Board consti· luted under the U.P. Muslims Waqfs Act 1936.

The present proceedings relate to the famous Durgah of Hazrat Sheikh Saleem Cbishti at Fatehpuri Sikri in the district of Agra said to have been established by Emperor Akbar. The Durgah was administered originally by the Moghuls and there after by the Board of Revenue established by the British Govern· ment under the Bengal Regulation No. 19 of 1810. Subsequently the Religious Endowment Act 1861 (Act 20 of 1863) was passed temples and which provided for the management of mosques, other religious establishments. Section 7 of Act 20 of 1863 pro· vided for the appointment and constitution of the committees which were to be appointed by the State . Government for the management of religious establishments mentioned in s. 3 of that Act Section 10 provided for election when a vacancy occurred in the committee. By G.O. dated July 7, 1925 and a subsequent notification dated February 27, 1927 rules for the election of the. managing committee were framed and a committee was formed.

The Waqf of the Durgah was registered as one of the waqfs under the superintendence of the Board as provided by s. 5 of the U. P. Muslim Waqfs Act 1936. It is common ground that the waqf is registered and it is one of the waqfs to which the provi· sions of the Act would be applicable. The term of four members of the committee constituted under the provisions of Act 20 of 1863 expired in 1962 and as the vacancies were not filled in by election the President of the appellant board filled in the vacanci~ acting under the provisions of the Act Respondent No. 1 filcl an application in the court of the District Judge at Agra purporting to be an application under Act 20 of 1863 stating inter alia that the President of the appellant board had constituted a committee

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It was,

of five persons under the provisions of the Act by filling in the It was further averred that the provisions of the four vacancies. Act, particularly s. 48, did not obviate the necessity of the appo intment of the committee by the District Judge under s. 10 of Act 20 of 1863. therefore, prayed that the District Judge may appoint persons to fill in the vacancies. The appellant board contested that application principally on the ground that after the enactment of the Act the .provisions of s. 10 of Act 20 of 1863 were no longer applicable. The appellant board also maintained that the appointment of the committee by the court would be inconsistent with the appointment of a managing com mittee by the board under the provisions of the Act.

The District Judge by his judgement dated November 23, 1963 held that he had the power to reconstitute the managing committee under s. 10 of Act 20 of 1863. He directed that the rules. vacancies shall be filled up according to the prescribed The appellant moved the High Court under s. 115 of the Code of Civil Procedure for revising the order of the District Judge. The High Court referred to the relevant provisions of the Act as well as Act 20 of 1863. It was of the view that for the purpose of Act 20 of 1863 mosques, temples and other religious establishments could be divided in two main groups. One was that to which the provisions of the Bengal Regulation No. 19 of 1810 or Madras Regulation No. 7 of 1817 were applicable. The other group was the one to which the provisions of these Regulations did not apply. The first group could be sub-divided into two depending upon the mode of nomination or appointment of the trustee, manager or superintendent. Section 3 of Act 20 of 1863 applied to reli gious establishments falling in the sub-group in whicb the nomi nation of a trustee, manager or superintendent thereof was vested in, or was exercised by or was subject to the confirmation of the In case of establishments government or any public officer. covered by s. 3 it was necessary for the State Government to pro ceed under s. 7 and to appoint one or more committees. On the appointment of the committee the Board of Revenue and the local agents ceased to exercise the functions assigned to them under the Regulation and they were to transfer to such committee all landed or other property belonging to the establishment. After referring to the relevant provisions of the Act the learned judge held that the general power of superintendence conferred on the committee constituted under s. 7 of Act 20 of 1863 became vested in the appellant board constituted under the Act. The continuance of the committee for the general supervision of waqfs was, there fore, inconsistent with the provisions of s. 19 of !be Act and in such circumstances the corresponding provisions M Act 20 of 1863 stood repealed with the result that the committee appointed under s. 7 of that enactment could not discha~e the general

u. P. SUNNJ WAU BOARD Y. MOHD. ALl)l (Grover, J.)

power of supervision and superintendence of waqfs to which the Act applied. However, in the opinion of the learned judge there was no provision in the Act corresponding to s. 13 of Act 20 of 1863. That section casts an additional responsibility on the com· mittee in that it has to keep in its custody accounts regularly sub mitted by the trustee, manager or superintendent of the mosque or religious establishment. Clauses (g) and (i) of s. 19(2) and s. 27 of the Act did not show any inconsistency with the provi sions of s. 13 of /'.ct 20 of 1863. It was consequently held that the committee constituted under s. 7 of Act 20 of 1863 could still continue to discharge some of the functions assigned to it and the District Judge was thus competent to entertain an application under s. 10 thereof and fill the vacancy among the members of the committee.

We are unable to share the view of the High Court. On his own reasoning the learned judge could not have come to the con· clusion at which he arrived, namely, that although the power of general superintendence of the waqf in question vested in the appellant board and that the committee constituted under s. 7 of Act 20 of 1863 could not exercise those powers which were exer· cisable by the board a committee under the old Act could still function for the purpose of s. 13 of that Act inasmuch as such a committee would still have the custody of the accounts of the waqf.

The Act has been enacted to provide for better governance, administration and supervision of certain classes of waqf in the State of U.P. Section 3(5) defines the word "mutawalli" to mean: "a manager of a waqf and includes an amin, a sajjadana· shin, a khadim, naib-mutawalli and a committee of mana· gement, and also includes any person who is for the time being in charge of, or administering, waqfs."

SectioJl 10 provides for the establishment of Central Boards. Section 19 contains the ~unctions of the Board. Sub-s. (!) says that the Board shall do all things reasonable or necessary to en sure that the waqfs under its superintendence ar~ properly main· . tained, controlled and administered and the income thereof is duly appropriated to the purpose for which they were founded or for which they exist. The following clauses of sub-s. (2) may be noticed:-

"(g) to inspect or .cause inspection of waqf proper· ties accounts or records or deeds and docu ments relating thereto ;

(h) to investigate into the nature and extent of waqf properties and call, from time to tim!l, information accounts and other returns and

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from the mutawallis and give directiom for the proper administration of waqfs ;

(i) to arrange for the auditing of accounts sub mitted or required to be submitted by the mu tawallis:

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(k) to administer the Waqf Fund;

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to keep regular accounts of the receipts and disbursement and submit the same to the State Government in the manner prescribed ;

Section 48 relates to appointment of mutawallis and s. 49 to their duties. The mutawalli is bound to carry out all directions issued by the board and to furnish such returns and supply such infor· mation as may be required by the board or the sub-<:<>mmittee from time to time. The mutawalli has also to allow inspection of waqf property, accounts or records or deeds and documents relating thereto. Under s. 50 he has to prepare every year a 1'ud· get for the next financial year and submit to the board before the first day of May in every year a full and true statement of accounts. Section 85 (I) provides that nothing in any other enactment which is inconsistent with the provisions of the Act shall apply to any waqf to which the Act applied.

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As has been stall'..d before, it is not disputed that the waqf of the Durgah is governed by the provisions of the Act. The en· tire scheme of the Act shows that the control and supervision over the waqf is that of the board constituted under s. JO. It is the board that has full powers with regard to inspection of accounts, their auditing, administration of the waqf funds and all such matters. Sections 49 and SO leave no room for doubt that ac· counts which would include books of account and all relevant records, deeds and documents have to be in MutawalJi's custody and he is bound to produce them for inspection of. the board when· ever so desired. "MutawalJi", according to the definition, in· cludes a committee of management. The Act appears to be self· contained and makes provisions for complete superintendence, administration and control of the waqfs over which the boards established under s. 10 have jurisdiction. It is barely possible to envisage the independent existence of a committee constituted under Act 20 of 1863 only for the purpose of having custody of the books of account particularly when the Act fuJJy contem· plates and provides for the maintenance, custody etc. of accounts and account books by the mutawalli. It is common ground that the Act was passed with the approval of · the President of India. There is a clear inoo~ncy between its provisions and those of Act 20 of 1863 relating to committees, their functioning and .control.

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u. P. SUNNI WA"U BOARD'· MOHD. ALIM (Grover, J.)

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We accordingly hold that the District Judge had no jurisdic ;tion or power to fill in vacancies on the committee constituted under the provisions of Act 20 of 1863. The appeal is therefore .allowed and the orders of the High Court and the District Judge .are hereby set aside. The application under the provisions of Act 20 of 1863 shall stand dismissed. The parties will bear their -'lwn costs in this Court.

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Appeal allowed.