Vidya Varuthi Thirtha Swamigal vs. Balusami Ayyar and Ors [(1922) 24 BOMLR 629]: Bombay High Court
Gift to idol / deity in Hindu system and position of a trustee
11. It is also to be remembered that a “trust,” in the sense in which the expression is used in English law, is unknown in the Hindu system, pure and simple. (J.G. Ghose, “Hindu Law,” page 276.) Hindu piety found expression in gifts to idols and images consecrated and installed in temples, to religious institutions of every kind, and for all purposes considered meritorious in the Hindu social and religious system: to Brahmans, Goswamis, sanyasis, etc. When the gift was to a holy person, it carried with it in terms or by usage and custom certain obligations. Under the Hindu law the image of a deity of the Hindu pantheon is, as has been aptly called, a “juristic entity,” vested with the capacity of receiving gifts and holding property. Religious institutions, known under different names, are regarded as possessing the same “juristic” capacity, and gifts are made to them eo nomine. In many cases in Southern India, especially where the diffusion of Aryan Brahmanism was essential for bringing the Dravidian peoples under the religious rule of the Hindu system, colleges and monasteries under the names of mutt were founded under spiritual teachers of recognized sanctity. These men had and have ample discretion in the application of the funds of the institution, but always subject to certain obligations and duties, equally governed by custom and usage. When the gift is directly to an idol or a temple, the seisin to complete the gift is necessarily effected by human agency. Called by whatever name, he is only the manager and custodian of the idol or the institution. In almost every case he is given the right to a part of the usufruct, the mode of enjoyment and the amount of the usufruct depending again on usage and custom. In no case was the property conveyed to or vested in him, nor is he a “trustee” in the English sense of the term, although in view of the obligations and duties resting on him, he is answerable as a trustee, in the general sense, for maladministration.