TMI Blog1969 (10) TMI 76X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lf a wrestler and fond of that sport Mani Ram purchased the said groveland for setting up and maintaining an Akhara where wrestlers of both Hindu and Muslim communities could come for wrestling. Besides the income from the said groveland, Mani Ram spent large amounts for promoting wrestling and to that end made a number of disciples. He had by his first wife six sons and a seventh son, Mangali Prasad, a wrestler of repute, from his second wife, Rahas Kaur. By a deed of partition dated June 23, 1830 he divided all his properties into eight shares giving one share to each of his seven sons and retained the 8th share for himself and the said Rahas Kaur. This 8th share included the said groveland on which stood the said Akhara as also certain other structures. The Akhara ground was bounded by a compound wall with an archgate to enter into. It appears that with the object of attracting wrestlers he installed on the archgate an idol of Mahabirji, a Shiv Lingam over a small room which stood next to the said gate, and a tasweer of Hazrat Ali. The two idols and the Tasweer were obviously intended to give a religious bias to the Akhara, the first two to attract Hindu wrestlers and the thi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s administered first by Rahas Kaur and after her death under the directions of her said will by him. Mangli Prasad in this written statement denied that the plaintiff in that suit had any right or interest in the said groveland, the same having been dedicated by Mani Ram for the purposes aforesaid. It appears that after Mangli Prasad's death his widow, Janki Kaur, entered into possession of the said property. From the judgment in First Appeal No. 279 of 1901 of the High Court of Allahabad dated December 23, 1903 it would appear that Janki Kaur left a will in favour of one Kishan Sarup and on the latter claiming the property Mangli Prasad's daughter. Sheodai Kaur, filed a suit for a declaration of her right of possession to the said property. That judgment has some bearing on the question as to the nature of the property in this appeal as it clearly stated that the groveland in question was an endowed property, and that herefore, Sbeodei Kaur could not claim that property by inheritance, but was entitled to the possession thereof as the manager since Mangli Prasad had not appointed any one as such manager. By this judgment the High Court declared that as regards the two, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ssors thereafter. To the latter part of the questions the answer of the Trial Court was that possession of the property In question by Mani Ram and those who came into possession after him was that of managers or trustees. As to the first part of the question, the Trial Court held The next part of the issue is about the endowment being valid-It is true that Mani Ram Pande was not competent to make a dedication in favour of Hazrat Ali but he had not done so in this case. The various documents referred above do not prove that the dedication was made in favour of Hazrat Ali or even Mahadeoji and Mahabirji. Wherever there is an allegation of the dedication it is mentioned that the Ahata in question is a dedicated property and there are Asthana of Mahaclevji and Taswir of Hazrat Ali and also an Akhara. It means that the dedication was not made in favour of any juristic person such as Mahadev Ji or Mahabir Ji or even to the Akhara or Hazrat Ali. No dedication evolve in favour of A khara could have been made as the A khara was also not a juristic person. The intention of Mani Ram Pande, as appears from the partition deed, Ex. 6, was that the dedication was in favour of a trustee or man ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... from the trees which existed during Mani Ram's life time; (2) that on acquisition of the entire property including the Akhara-buag by the Improvement Trust, the trust, in any event, was extinguished and the purchase by Ishwar Narain after the acquisition from the Improvement Trust did not and could not revive the trust; (3) that the trust was invalid by reason of one of its objects being the image or tasweer of Hazrat Ali; and (4) that the dominant object of the trust was to establish and maintain in perpetuity the said Akhara, which object in Hindu Law is neither religious nor charitable, and there- fore, the trust was not a valid trust. So far as the first and the second contentions are concerned, we have no difficulty in rejecting them. The documents on record as also the evidence as to the conduct of Mani Ram and those who held the property after him clearly show that Mani Ram dedicated the groveland and not merely the trees standing thereon. The purchase of part of the said property after its acquisition was from out of the compensation received by Ishwar Narain and not out of his personal funds, so that if the trust was in law a valid one, the property purchased by hi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... law. On that question the Court relied on a passage from Mayne's Hindu Law, ( 1th ed.) at p. 192, which states,that what are purely religious purposes and what religious purposes will be charitable must be entirely decided according to Hindu law and Hindu notions. The Court observed that in finding out such purposes, the insistence of English law on the element of actual or assumed public benefit would not be the determining factor, but the Hindu notions of what a religious or a charitable purpose is. The Court further held that to the extent that any purpose is claimed to be a valid one for perpetual dedication on the ground of religious merit though lacking in public benefit, it must be shown to have a Shastraic basis so far as Hindus are concerned. To the argument that new religious practices and beliefs may have since then grown up and obtained recognition, the Court answered that if they are to be accepted as being sufficient for valid perpetual dedication they should have obtained wide recognition and constituted the religious practice of a substantially large class of persons and that the heads of religious purposes determined by belief in acquisition of religious merit ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nce as to where Hazrat Ali's taswreei, was installed, but it is clear from the evidence that the idol of Mahabir Ji was located at the top of the aggregate which led into the Akhara and the Shiva Lingam was installed over a small room built next to the gate. Clearly, the purpose of- installing the two idols and the tasweer was to enable the wrestlers to pay their homage and salutation to the patron deities of the game before entering into the wrestling arena. The dominant object of the dedication was thus the Akhara and the Asthan of God Shiva and Mahavir, spoken of in the will of Rahas Kaur, was only an adjunct to the Akhara. There is evidence, no doubt, to show that pooja and Shringar of the two idols were performed. But that apparently was because the idols once installed could not be left unworshippe On these facts we are inclined to take the view that the dominant object of the dedication was the Akhara and the said idols and the tasweer were installed only to attract persons of both the communities to the Akhara and to provide for them the facility for invoking the divine benediction before they participated in wresting. As laid down in Saraswathi Ammal's case ([1954] ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 2nd ed.), p. 11, there is no line of demarcation in the Hindu system between religion and charity. Indeed, charity is regarded as part of religion, for, gift both for religious and charitable purposes are impelled by the desire to acquire religious merit. According to Pandit Prannath Saraswati these fell under two heads, Istha and Purta. The former meant sacrifices and sacrificial gifts and the latter meant charities. Among the Istha acts are Vedic sacrifices, gifts to the priests at the time of such sacrifices, preservations of Vedas, religious austerity, rectitude, Vaisvadev sacrifices and hospitality. Among the, Purta acts are construction and maintenance of temples, tanks, wells, planting of ground had the two dominant object of worship of the idols A dedication of pose can, according writing is necessary created by a will groves, gifts of food, dharamshalas, places for drinking water, relief of the sick, and promotion of education and learning. (cf. Pandit Prannath Saraswati's Hindu Law of Endowments, 1897, pp. 26-27) Istha and Purta are in fact regarded as the common duties of the twice born class. (cf. Pandit Saraswati, p. 27) Though Pandit Saraswati sought to enumerate ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t for encouraging the sport of yatch-racing was not upheld as a charitable trust, though as Lindley, L.J., remarked every healthy sport is good for the nation. In re Hadden, Public Trustee v. More, while acknowledging the principle laid down in In re Notage, the court held that a trust providing for recreation grounds and parks for the benefit of working classes was valid on the ground, however, that such uses were intended for the health and welfare of the working classes. So too, in In re Marietta, Mariette v. Governing Body of Aldenham School, where bequests for building squash racket courts or some similar purpose within the school premises and for a prize to the winner in the school athletics were held valid on the ground of its being essential in a school of learning that there should be organised games as part of the daily routine. It is clear from the judgment of Eve, J., that he upheld the bequest on the ground not of promoting athletic games but on the ground that the object of the charity was education in the school and that training in such games would be part of the educational activities of the school. There is, however, one decision of a marginal nature. if we may sa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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