TMI Blog1945 (6) TMI 2X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... meaning of the Mussalman Wakf Validating Act of 1913. The settlor recites his desire of making a wakf-alal-aulad in respect of his two Immovable properties in order to provide himself and his children in the manner provided in the trust deed. He declares that he would be the first mutawalli or trustee under the deed arid then he gives directions as to how. the rents and profits of the two properties are to be distributed. He directs, the trustees first to pay the outgoings and then to pay the net balance of the income of the two properties to the settlor during his life for his absolute use; and then he directs that the trustee or mutawalli who is to come after him should, after his death, set apart twenty-five per cent, of the gross rents ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of ₹ 300 to be spent amongst the Sayyeds and Fakirs every year in the month of Ramzan; and fourthly, a sum of ₹ 1,000 to ₹ 1,200 for feasting Cutchi Memons of his community on the day of his anniversary of his death. 3. A wakf-alal-aulad is a method whereby a Mulssalman can make provision for the maintenance and support of his family and descendants. Under ordinary law such a trust would be bad as offending against the law of perpetuity. It is not open to a person to tie up his property in perpetuity and give the income of it to his children and his descendants. But the law has made an exception in the case of Mussalmans, and that exception is to be found in the Mussalman Wakf Validating Act (IV of 1913). That Act makes ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ot charity according to the Mahomedan law. Those payments have already been made by the trustees, and the question in that sense becomes academic. With regard to the second object, payment of ₹ 200 every year to a person belonging to the family of the, settlor who may be poor and in need of money, payment to poor relatives is really good charity under the Mahomedan law; but as Mr. Taraporewalla has pointed out, when we are dealing with the Mussalman Wakf Validating Act, we must consider a particular charity benefiting on the extinction of the family of the settlor and, therefore, it is necessary to consider whether the charity selected by the settlor which is ultimately to be benefited is or is not of a permanent nature. It is not pos ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... be said in this feast or any religious ceremony to be performed. All that the settlor says is that a feast is to be held where a certain amount has to be spent every year, 5. Therefore the settlor was anxious to benefit these particular charities and that is clear also from the fact that even before the extinction of his family or descendants he has provided that a portion of the income should be spent on these objects immediately after his death. It is impossible to infer that any general or dominant charitable intention is shown by the settlor in making provision under this particular deed. The matter becomes even more clear when one remembers that the net income of the two properties-the subject-matter of the trust-is about ₹ 1 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... permitted to do so without offending against the provisions of the Act. What the settlor has done in this deed is that he has reserved to himself a life interest in the income of the trust property. Now a reservation of a life interest in the income of a trust property is a very different thing from securing to himself for his own maintenance and support the income of the trust property. The difference in law between these two provisions is clear and of considerable importance. If what he had reserved to himself was for his own maintenance, that would not be transferable as property under the-Transfer of Property Act nor could it be attachable under the provisions of the Civil Procedure Code. Whereas if he had reserved for himself a life i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ncome of the property on certain charitable objects which he has Specified and to which I have referred. That particular provision in the deed would-not amount to a provision for his descendants with an ultimate gift to charity. It is really a gift to charity in praesenti through the medium of a trust. What the settlor says is this: I make the gift to charity. I appoint trustees. I hand over the subject of the gift to trustees. But I make a stipulation with the trustees that they should not spend the money on charity so long as I am alive and give the income to me . As far as I can see, there is nothing in Mahomedan law to prevent a Mussalman from creating a trust of that nature. Of course the charitable objects must be such as are recogn ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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