{"id":160879,"date":"2005-07-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2005-07-27T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/vinayaka-dev-idagbunji-ors-vs-shivaram-ors-on-28-july-2005"},"modified":"2016-08-23T02:11:37","modified_gmt":"2016-08-22T20:41:37","slug":"vinayaka-dev-idagbunji-ors-vs-shivaram-ors-on-28-july-2005","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/vinayaka-dev-idagbunji-ors-vs-shivaram-ors-on-28-july-2005","title":{"rendered":"Vinayaka Dev Idagbunji &amp; Ors vs Shivaram &amp; Ors on 28 July, 2005"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"docsource_main\">Supreme Court of India<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_title\">Vinayaka Dev Idagbunji &amp; Ors vs Shivaram &amp; Ors on 28 July, 2005<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_author\">Author: A Kumar<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_bench\">Bench: B.P. Singh, Arun Kumar<\/div>\n<pre>           CASE NO.:\nAppeal (civil)  5641 of 2004\n\nPETITIONER:\nVinayaka Dev Idagbunji &amp; Ors.\t\t\t\t\n\nRESPONDENT:\nShivaram &amp; Ors.\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\nDATE OF JUDGMENT: 28\/07\/2005\n\nBENCH:\nB.P. Singh &amp; Arun Kumar\n\nJUDGMENT:\n<\/pre>\n<p>J U D G M E N T<\/p>\n<p>ARUN KUMAR, J.\n<\/p>\n<p>\tThe question for consideration in this appeal is :Whether a suit to<br \/>\nestablish a right to be hereditary &#8216;archaks&#8217; (Pujaris) in a temple and a<br \/>\nshare in the offerings made to the deity, is a suit in relation to personal\/<br \/>\nprivate right of the archaks or it is a suit in the nature of exercising a<br \/>\npublic right in a public trust? The question has arisen in the context of<br \/>\nbar created by Section 50 of the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950.<br \/>\nRegarding suits falling within the categories enumerated in Section 50<br \/>\nof the Act, either the Charity Commissioner has to file them or they<br \/>\nhave to be filed after obtaining consent in writing of the Charity<br \/>\nCommissioner.\n<\/p>\n<p>\tBriefly, the facts are :\t the plaintiffs (respondents herein)<br \/>\nclaiming to be hereditary archaks of the temple in suit from times<br \/>\nimmemorial and having a right to perform their duties (poojapal)as<br \/>\narchaks in the temple, filed a civil suit for declaration to establish these<br \/>\nrights.  According to the plaintiffs, their family has been performing<br \/>\npoojapali and exercising the rights incidental thereto since ancient<br \/>\ntimes.  The plaintiffs also claimed that they are entitled to emoluments<br \/>\nin the form of share in the offerings made by the devotees.  The<br \/>\nancestors of  the plaintiffs have been exercising such rights since time<br \/>\nimmemorial when there was no trust for the temple and there were no<br \/>\ntrustees.  The trust was created much later and the trustees are only<br \/>\nmanagers of the properties of the trust.  The trustees sought to remove<br \/>\nthe plaintiffs from archakship.  According to plaintiffs the trustees had<br \/>\nno right to remove hereditary archaks like the plaintiffs.  The plaintiffs<br \/>\nfurther pleaded that often the offerings to the deity are symbol of<br \/>\nsacrificial dedication of the produce of the land grown by the efforts of<br \/>\nthe devotees.  &#8220;Padiakki&#8221; is the rice and coconut given by the devotees<br \/>\nas dan (donation) to the officiating priest to take  home.  On this count,<br \/>\nthe priest has to accept the  many negative karmas of the donor and to<br \/>\nmitigate this, the priest has to perform penance.  The plaintiffs had<br \/>\nbeen exercising their rights to the knowledge of the defendants who are<br \/>\nthe trustees of the temple trust.  According to the plaintiffs the<br \/>\narchakship is not a job or vocation but a hereditary religious office,<br \/>\nfunctions whereof they have to discharge ungrudgingly.  A state of<br \/>\nharmony and cooperation between the trustees and archaks continued<br \/>\ntill 1974-75.  Thereafter, the trustees allegedly prepared a<br \/>\n&#8220;Niyamavali&#8221; (Rule Book) meant for regulating the activities like<br \/>\nPooja and Viniyogas etc.  The  Niyamavali had no legal or statutory<br \/>\nbacking.  Under the Niyamavali the trustees also tried to interfere with<br \/>\nthe right of the plaintiffs regarding remuneration and donations<br \/>\nreceived by them from the devotees.  According to the plaintiffs the<br \/>\nemoluments received by the archaks are not the income of the temple.<br \/>\n\tIn order to get rid of the plaintiffs, the defendants issued a notice<br \/>\ndated 21st September, 1994 terminating their services as archaks.  The<br \/>\nplaintiffs filed the instant suit for declaration that the plaintiffs are<br \/>\nhereditary archaks of Shri Mahaganapathy (Vinayaka Dev) Temple of<br \/>\nIdagunji in Honnavar Taluk and for consequential reliefs like declaring<br \/>\nthat the order of termination issued by defendants dated 21st<br \/>\nSeptember, 1994 is illegal, void and contrary to the principles of<br \/>\nnatural justice etc.<br \/>\n\tThe defendants  appellants filed a written statement denying the<br \/>\nrights of the plaintiffs to be hereditary archaks.  It was further pleaded<br \/>\nthat the temple was under a public trust registered under the Bombay<br \/>\nPublic Trusts Act, 1950.  Further a plea was taken in the written<br \/>\nstatement that the suit filed against the trustees of the public trust and<br \/>\nthe reliefs prayed in the plaint directly relate to administration and<br \/>\nmanagement of the public trust and as such without making the temple<br \/>\ntrust a party, the suit was not maintainable in view of Sections 50, 51,<br \/>\n79 and 80 of the Bombay Public Trusts Act read with Section 9 of the<br \/>\nCode of Civil Procedure.  According to the defendants, the plaintiffs<br \/>\nhad not obtained the permission of the Charity Commissioner as<br \/>\nrequired under Sections 50 and 51 of the Bombay Public Trusts  Act to<br \/>\nfile the present suit.\n<\/p>\n<p>On the basis of the pleadings of the parties, the trial court framed<br \/>\nas many as 32 issues.  At the stage of evidence the defendants  filed an<br \/>\napplication under Order 14 Rule 2 read with Section 151 of the Code<br \/>\nof Civil Procedure that certain issues relating to maintainability of the<br \/>\nsuit be tried as preliminary issues.  The application was rejected by the<br \/>\nlearned Civil Judge.  The defendants filed a Revision Petition under<br \/>\nSection 115 of the Code of Civil Procedure before the High Court.  The<br \/>\nHigh Court declined to interfere with the order of the trial court and<br \/>\naccordingly dismissed the Civil Revision Petition. Further, in view of<br \/>\nthe fact that the suit had been pending for more than 10 years, a<br \/>\ndirection was issued to the trial court to dispose of the suit on merits<br \/>\nwithin six months.  The defendants, according to the said order, have<br \/>\ncome up before this court by way of a petition for special leave to<br \/>\nappeal.  Leave was  granted and the order under appeal was stayed by<br \/>\nthis court on 30th August, 2004.  Interim stay of the impugned order<br \/>\nwas passed on the first day of hearing, i.e. on 7th May, 2004.  We have<br \/>\nheard learned counsel for the parties at length.  The main question for<br \/>\nconsideration is whether the suit filed by the respondents-plaintiffs is<br \/>\none which pertains to administration of a public trust or is it a suit to<br \/>\nestablish a private right to archakship or worship in the temple filed by<br \/>\npersons claiming to be having such a right?  Relevant portion of<br \/>\nSection 50 of the Bombay Public Trusts Act as applicable to the facts of<br \/>\nthe present case is reproduced as under :\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8221; Section 50 :\n<\/p>\n<p>In any case-\n<\/p>\n<p>(i)\twhere it is alleged that there is a breach of a<br \/>\npublic trust,<\/p>\n<p>(ii)\twhere a declaration is necessary that a<br \/>\nparticular property is a property belonging to a<br \/>\npublic trust or where a direction is required to<br \/>\nrecover the possession of such property or the<br \/>\nproceeds thereof or for an account of such<br \/>\nproperty or proceeds from any person including<br \/>\na person holding adversely to the public trust, or<\/p>\n<p>(iii)\twhere the direction of the Court is deemed<br \/>\nnecessary for the administration of any public<br \/>\ntrust,<\/p>\n<p>the Charity Commissioner or two or more persons<br \/>\nhaving an interest in the trust and having obtained the<br \/>\nconsent in writing of the Charity Commissioner as<br \/>\nprovided in Section 51 may institute a suit whether<br \/>\ncontentious or not in the Court within the local limits of<br \/>\nwhose jurisdiction the whole or part of the subject matter<br \/>\nof the trust is situate, to obtain a decree for any of the<br \/>\nfollowing reliefs :\n<\/p>\n<p>(a)\tan order for the recovery of the possession of such<br \/>\nproperty or proceeds thereof,<\/p>\n<p>(b)\tthe removal of any trustee or manager,<\/p>\n<p>(c)\tthe appointment of a new trustee or manager,<\/p>\n<p>(cc)\tvesting any property in a trustee,<\/p>\n<p>(d)\ta direction for taking accounts and making certain<br \/>\ninquiries,<\/p>\n<p>(e)\ta declaration as to what proportion of the trust<br \/>\nproperty or of the interest therein shall be<br \/>\nallocated to any particular object of the trust,<\/p>\n<p>(f)\ta direction authorizing the whole or any part of the<br \/>\ntrust property to be let, sold, mortgaged or<br \/>\nexchanged,<\/p>\n<p>(g)\tthe settlement of a scheme or variations or<br \/>\nalterations in a scheme already settled, or<\/p>\n<p>(h)\tgranting such further or other relief as the nature<br \/>\nof the case may require :\n<\/p>\n<p>Provided that no suit claiming any of the reliefs<br \/>\nspecified in this section shall be instituted in<br \/>\nrespect of any public trust except in conformity<br \/>\nwith the provisions thereof.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\tTo find out the nature of the suit, we have to go to the plaint in<br \/>\nthe suit as instituted by the plaintiffs- respondents in the Civil Court.  It<br \/>\nis the case of the plaintiffs that they have a hereditary right of<br \/>\narchakship with emoluments attached.  This right of archakship started<br \/>\nwith the consecration of the deity.  The families of the plaintiffs have<br \/>\nbeen performing archakship right from the time of consecration of the<br \/>\ndeity.  In fact the ancestors of the plaintiffs who were performing the<br \/>\nfunctions as archaks also acted as managers and custodians of the<br \/>\ntemple and its properties.  After the introduction of the Madras<br \/>\nEndowment  Act, the trustees were appointed.  One of the members of<br \/>\nthe families of the plaintiffs used to be appointed as a trustee of the<br \/>\nBoard which consisted of five trustees at the initial stages.  This<br \/>\ncontinued till the year 1930 whereafter they stopped having a member<br \/>\nof the plaintiffs&#8217; families on the Board of trustees.  The plaint contains<br \/>\nvarious details to show and establish the right of the plaintiffs to<br \/>\narchakship of the temple and the right to a share in the offerings of the<br \/>\ndeity with which we are not concerned at this stage.  The fact relevant<br \/>\nfor our purpose is that vide a notice dated 21st September, 1994, the<br \/>\nplaintiffs&#8217; services as archaks were terminated with which their right to<br \/>\nperform puja in the temple and to have a share in the offerings also<br \/>\ncame to be terminated.  The plaintiffs challenged the said notice as<br \/>\nillegal and untenable.  The plaintiffs prayed for a declaration that they<br \/>\nare hereditary archaks of the temple in question.  The said right to act<br \/>\nas archaks was in the nature of the property. A declaration was also<br \/>\nsought to have share in the offerings to the deity at the temple.  Further<br \/>\na declaration was sought that the order of termination dated 21st<br \/>\nSeptember, 1994 was illegal, void and contrary to the principles of<br \/>\nnatural justice.  Injunction was sought to restrain the plaintiffs from<br \/>\ninterfering with the rights of the plaintiffs in performing their duties as<br \/>\narchaks.\n<\/p>\n<p>\tWe are in the present appeal concerned with the pleas raised by<br \/>\nthe defendants- appellants in their written submissions to the effect that<br \/>\nthe suit was  barred under Section 50 of the Bombay Public  Trusts Act,<br \/>\n1950.  The trial court as well as the High Court have rejected this plea<br \/>\nraised by the defendants-appellants.\n<\/p>\n<p>\tA perusal of Section 50 of the Act shows that in matters referred<br \/>\nto or enumerated in the said Section, a suit is to be instituted after<br \/>\nobtaining the consent in writing of the Charity Commissioner as per<br \/>\nprovisions of Section 51 of the Act.  The learned counsel for the<br \/>\nappellants submitted that the claim of the plaintiffs in the plaint falls<br \/>\nwithin the ambit of administration of a public trust as admittedly  there<br \/>\nis a public trust with respect to the temple in question.  If the matter<br \/>\npertains to administration of public trust then the Charity<br \/>\nCommissioner comes into the picture and a Civil suit is not<br \/>\nmaintainable without compliance of Sections 50 and 51 of the Act.  The<br \/>\nreal question is whether the present suit is a suit pertaining to<br \/>\nadministration of a public trust.  In response to this question, the<br \/>\nlearned counsel for the respondents drew our attention to the preamble<br \/>\nto the Act which provides &#8220;an Act to regulate and to make better<br \/>\nprovision for the administration of public religious and charitable<br \/>\ntrusts in the State of Bombay&#8221;.\n<\/p>\n<p>  From this Preamble it is apparent that the main object of the<br \/>\nAct is to regulate the administration of public trusts.  The question is:<br \/>\nWill this extend to regulating the right to perform worship in the<br \/>\ntemple?  The right asserted by the plaintiffs in the plaint is claimed as<br \/>\ntheir families&#8217; personal\/private right.  Whether they are entitled to<br \/>\ncontinue as archaks on hereditary basis is a private claim of the<br \/>\nplaintiffs.  This right has nothing to do with any public functions of the<br \/>\ntrust or administration of the trust.  Thus according to the learned<br \/>\ncounsel for the plaintiffs,  Section 50 of the Act is not attracted at all.<br \/>\nIn support of the submission that the right claimed by the plaintiffs is<br \/>\ntheir personal right  which is an enforceable  civil right, the learned<br \/>\ncounsel relied on <a href=\"\/doc\/1004330\/\">Rajkali Kuer vs. Ram Rattan Pandey<\/a> [ 1975 (2) SCR<br \/>\n186 ] wherein it was observed &#8220;that religious offices can be hereditary<br \/>\nand that the right to such an office is in the nature of property under<br \/>\nthe Hindu Law is now well established.&#8221;  In the said judgment, this<br \/>\nCourt has relied on a Full Bench judgment of the Calcutta High Court<br \/>\nwhile observing as under :\n<\/p>\n<p>\t&#8220;That religious offices can be hereditary and that<br \/>\nthe right to such an office is in the nature of property<br \/>\nunder the Hindu Law is now well established.  A Full<br \/>\nBench of the Calcutta High Court in Manohar vs.<br \/>\nBhupendra [AIR 1932 Calcutta 791] has laid down<br \/>\nin respect of Shebaitship of a temple and this view<br \/>\nhas been accepted by the Privy Council in two<br \/>\nsubsequent cases in Ganesh vs. Lal Behary [(1936)<br \/>\nLR 63 IA 448] and Bhabatarini vs. Ashalata<br \/>\n[(1943)LR 70 IA 57].  In a recent judgment of this<br \/>\nCourt reported as <a href=\"\/doc\/1430396\/\">The Commissioner, Hindu<br \/>\nReligious Emdowments, Madras vs. Sri Lakshmindra<br \/>\nThirtha Swamiar<\/a> [(1954) SCR 1005] this view has<br \/>\nbeen reiterated and extended to the office of a<br \/>\nMahant.  On the view that Shebaiti is property, this<br \/>\nCourt has also recognized the right of a female to<br \/>\nsucceed to the religious office of Shebaitship in the<br \/>\ncase reported as <a href=\"\/doc\/1652416\/\">Angurbala vs. Debabrata<\/a> [(1951)<br \/>\nSCR 1125], where the question as to the applicability<br \/>\nof Hindu Women&#8217;s Right to Property Act to the office<br \/>\nof Shebaitship came up for consideration.  On the<br \/>\nsame analogy as that of a Shebaiti right, the right of<br \/>\na hereditary priest or Pujari in a temple must also<br \/>\namount to property where emoluments are attached<br \/>\nto such an office.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>Reliance was also placed on Ram Rattan, through Lrs. Vs.<br \/>\nBajrang Lal and ors. [ 1978 (3) SCC 236] wherein while dealing with<br \/>\nthe question whether hereditary office of Shebait is immovable<br \/>\nproperty, it was noted that :\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The question then is whether the hereditary office of<br \/>\nShebait is immovable property.  Much before the<br \/>\nenactment of the Transfer of Property Act a question<br \/>\narose in the context of the Limitation Act then in force<br \/>\nwhether a suit for a share in the worship and the<br \/>\nemoluments incidental to the same would be a suit for<br \/>\nrecovery of immovable property or an interest in<br \/>\nimmovable property.  In Krishnabhat bia Hiragange<br \/>\nvs. Kanabhat bia Mahalbhat etc. [ 6 Bom HCR 137]<br \/>\nafter referring to various texts of Hindu Law and the<br \/>\ncommentaries of English commentators thereon, a<br \/>\nDivision Bench of the Bombay High Court held as<br \/>\nunder :\n<\/p>\n<p>\tAlthough, therefore, the office of a priest in a<br \/>\ntemple, when it is not annexed to the ownership of any<br \/>\nland, or held by virtue of such ownership, may not, in<br \/>\nthe ordinary sense of the term, be immovable property,<br \/>\nbut is an incorporeal hereditament of a personal<br \/>\nnature, yet being by the custom of Hindus classed with<br \/>\nimmovable property, and so regarded in their<br \/>\nlaw&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>It was argued on behalf of the respondents that the reliefs<br \/>\nclaimed in the present suit do not fall in any of the clauses of Section<br \/>\n50 of the Act.  There is no allegation of breach of trust; no declaration<br \/>\nis sought that any property is a property belonging to a public trust.<br \/>\nThe right to archakship is an individual and personal right enforceable<br \/>\nunder ordinary law; nor any direction of the court is sought for<br \/>\nadministration of the public trust.  The plaintiffs have never sought any<br \/>\norders of the court regarding administration of the trust.  To illustrate<br \/>\nthe point our attention was drawn to Sri Kallagar Devasthanan vs.<br \/>\nThiruvengadathan [ AIR (30) 1943  Madras 222].  In this case the<br \/>\nquestion was about the competence of Civil Court to entertain a suit.<br \/>\nFather of the plaintiffs in this case was a hereditary archak of a temple.<br \/>\nThe plaintiff was adopted by the mother after the death of his father.<br \/>\nThe trust  did not recognize the plaintiff as an archak.  The plaintiff<br \/>\nfiled a civil suit challenging the action and he being not allowed to be<br \/>\narchak of the temple.  Objection was taken about the maintainability of<br \/>\nthe suit.  Reliance was placed on Section 73 of the Hindu  Religious<br \/>\nand Endowments Act by the defendants in support of objection<br \/>\nregarding maintainability of the suit.  The said Section had provision<br \/>\nsimilar to the one under consideration in the present case.  The<br \/>\nfollowing observations are relevant for the present purpose :\n<\/p>\n<p>\t&#8220;If the words &#8220;administration or management&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>used in sub-clause (3) of s.73 have been employed with<br \/>\nreference to the &#8220;religious endowment&#8221; as defined in<br \/>\nthe Act and this is what is stated in that sub-clause, it<br \/>\nappears to be clear that they could not possibly be<br \/>\ntaken to cover or include the case of a dismissal of an<br \/>\narchaka of a temple.  The administration or<br \/>\nmanagement must be with reference to the &#8220;religious<br \/>\nendowment,&#8221; i.e. with reference to the property<br \/>\nmentioned in the definition and not with respect to the<br \/>\ndismissal of an archaka.  The suit to set aside his<br \/>\ndismissal relates to a personal right and as long as<br \/>\nthere is no question relating to the administration or<br \/>\nmanagement of the endowed property, the suit cannot<br \/>\nbe held to have been barred under that section.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>This was also a case in which right to archakship was claimed<br \/>\nand it was held to be a private personal right which had nothing to do<br \/>\nwith administration or management of the trust and the suit was held to<br \/>\nbe maintainable in a civil court.  In the case in hand<br \/>\nrespondents\/plaintiffs are trying to establish their hereditary right to<br \/>\nact as archaks in the temple in suit.  This has nothing to do with<br \/>\nadministration of the trust.\n<\/p>\n<p>\tWhat is to be seen is  the relief the plaintiffs are seeking from the<br \/>\ncourt.  First of all, they are seeking a declaration about their<br \/>\nhereditary right as archaks of the temple.  This right is claimed in their<br \/>\npersonal capacity as a family of archaks who have been performing the<br \/>\nfunctions of archaks since the day the temple was established and the<br \/>\ndeity was consecrated.  It is different matter whether ultimately the<br \/>\nplaintiffs&#8217; contention is accepted by the court or not.  Surely, the<br \/>\nplaintiffs are entitled to have their claim examined by the court.  If they<br \/>\nfail to establish their claim, they will be out of the court.  However, if<br \/>\nthey succeed in establishing the claim they will be entitled to the<br \/>\ndeclaration sought.  They cannot be non suited at the threshold unless<br \/>\nthe suit is expressly barred by any statute.  We have seen the provision<br \/>\nof Section 50 of the Bombay Public Trusts Act relied upon by the<br \/>\nappellants-defendants.  The said section does not cover a suit of the<br \/>\npresent type.  Analogy has been drawn of Section 92 of the Code of<br \/>\nCivil Procedure while considering Section 50 of Bombay Public Trusts<br \/>\nAct.  Both provisions are in the nature of representative suits which<br \/>\npertain to public trusts and protection of public interest in the trusts.<br \/>\nIn the present case, there is no public interest involved.  The only<br \/>\ninterest is that of the plaintiffs and their families.  The right of<br \/>\narchakship is claimed on the basis of inheritance.  It is a hereditary<br \/>\npersonal right which they want to establish.  The right is purely of a<br \/>\nprivate nature.  We are of the view that Section 50 of the Bombay<br \/>\nPublic Trusts Act is not attracted at all in the facts of the present case.<br \/>\n\tWe have seen the object of the Bombay Public Trusts Act.<br \/>\nAppropriately the Act seeks to regulate and make better provision for<br \/>\nadministration of public religious and charitable trusts.  Such trusts<br \/>\ncater to things of public interest, i.e .things which concern large<br \/>\nsections of public.  Unless such trusts are properly administered  public<br \/>\ninterest will suffer.  Therefore, matters affecting administration of such<br \/>\ntrusts are covered under Section 50 of the Bombay Public Trusts Act.<br \/>\nThis situation is somewhat similar to suits under Section 92 of the Code<br \/>\nof Civil Procedure.  These suits are suits in representative capacity and<br \/>\npertain to matters of public interest.  In contrast the suit which has<br \/>\ngiven rise to the present appeal is a suit to establish an individual right.<br \/>\nThe plaintiffs claim that they are hereditary archaks of the temple since<br \/>\ntime immemorial and are entitled to exercise this right which cannot be<br \/>\ntaken away from them.  No public interest is involved. Public is not<br \/>\nconcerned whether A acts as an archak or B acts.  Such a suit,<br \/>\ntherefore, cannot be covered by Section 50 of the Act.  Law is settled on<br \/>\nthis aspect as per various  judgments of this Court.\n<\/p>\n<p>\tIn  Raje Anand Rao vs. Sham Rao and ors. [(1961) 3 SCR 930],<br \/>\nthe dispute had arisen in view of dissatisfaction with the management<br \/>\nof a temple which was an endowment for the public.  A suit under<br \/>\nSection 92 of the Code of Civil Procedure was filed.  A scheme was<br \/>\nframed for the management of the temple.  The right of pujaris as a<br \/>\nhereditary right  was not affected under the scheme.  Therefore, some<br \/>\nof the pujaris who were not parties to the suit and were not, therefore,<br \/>\nheard,  made a grievance of this fact.  The matter came upto this court.<br \/>\nAn amendment of the scheme by the District Judge without hearing the<br \/>\npujaris was also put in issue.  However, it was held that the fact that<br \/>\nthe pujaris were not parties to the suit will not take away the<br \/>\njurisdiction of the District Judge to modify the scheme, if the<br \/>\nmodification is with respect to administration of the trust and if it has<br \/>\nnot affected the private rights of the pujaris.  A suit under Section 92 of<br \/>\nthe Code of Civil Procedure  being a representative suit  binds not only<br \/>\nthe parties thereto but all those who are interested in the trust.  The<br \/>\nscheme was framed for the management and administration of the trust<br \/>\nand it did not affect the hereditary right of the pujaris to conduct the<br \/>\npuja.  Thus this judgment makes it clear that the right of the pujaris to<br \/>\nconduct puja is their private right and does not fall in the category of<br \/>\nsuits under Section 92 of the Code of Civil Procedure.\n<\/p>\n<p>\tOur attention was drawn by the learned counsel for the<br \/>\nrespondents to some other judgments holding  the right to perform puja<br \/>\nin the temple as a private right of the pujaris or archaks  and the same<br \/>\ncannot be defeated by invoking section 50 the Bombay Public Trusts<br \/>\nAct or Section 92 of the Code of Civil Procedure.  We need not refer to<br \/>\nall the judgments in view of the fact that the law on this point is well<br \/>\nsettled.  We only refer to the latest judgment of this court in<br \/>\n<a href=\"\/doc\/70038525\/\">Sahebgouda (Deceased) vs. Ogeppa and<\/a> ors [ 2003 (6) SCC 151].<br \/>\nThis case  pertains to a suit for declaration of Pujaris&#8217; Pujariki right of<br \/>\nperforming puja.  The plaintiff sought an injunction to restrain the<br \/>\ndefendants from interfering with the aforesaid right.  Objection was<br \/>\ntaken about the maintainability of the civil suit in view of the provision<br \/>\nof Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950.  However, the objection was turned<br \/>\ndown holding that the reliefs claimed in the suit do not come within the<br \/>\nambit of Sections 19 or 79 of the Act which gave jurisdiction to the<br \/>\nAssistant Charity Commissioner to decide certain issues like existence<br \/>\nof public trust or whether a property is a trust property.   In this suit<br \/>\nbrought by the plaintiffs to establish his right of archakship  the only<br \/>\nrelief claimed was  a declaration regarding the right of the plaintiffs-<br \/>\nappellants to function as hereditary pujaris  or for pujariki rights   in<br \/>\nperforming puja in the temple and consequential decree for injunction<br \/>\nfor restraining the respondents from interfering with the aforesaid<br \/>\nrights of the plaintiffs.  The facts of this case are somewhat similar to<br \/>\nthose of the case in hand.  It was held that the case was clearly out of<br \/>\nthe purview of the barring provisions of the Bombay Public Trusts Act.<br \/>\nWe are in respectful agreement with the view taken in this judgment.  It<br \/>\nis held that the present suit is not barred by provisions of the Bombay<br \/>\nPublic Trusts Act.  Accordingly, no interference is called for with the<br \/>\njudgment under appeal.  The appeal is without merit and is hereby<br \/>\ndismissed. Since the trial of the suit on merits has been already<br \/>\nsufficiently  delayed, the trial court may dispose of the suit on priority<br \/>\nbasis as directed by the High Court in the impugned judgment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Supreme Court of India Vinayaka Dev Idagbunji &amp; Ors vs Shivaram &amp; Ors on 28 July, 2005 Author: A Kumar Bench: B.P. Singh, Arun Kumar CASE NO.: Appeal (civil) 5641 of 2004 PETITIONER: Vinayaka Dev Idagbunji &amp; Ors. RESPONDENT: Shivaram &amp; Ors. DATE OF JUDGMENT: 28\/07\/2005 BENCH: B.P. Singh &amp; Arun Kumar JUDGMENT: J U [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-160879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-supreme-court-of-india"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Vinayaka Dev Idagbunji &amp; Ors vs Shivaram &amp; Ors on 28 July, 2005 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/vinayaka-dev-idagbunji-ors-vs-shivaram-ors-on-28-july-2005\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vinayaka Dev Idagbunji &amp; 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