MAHANT HARNAM SINGH, CHELA OF BHAI NARAIN SINGH versus GURDIAL SINGH & ANR.

Citation: [1967] 2 S.C.R. 739 · Decided: 24-02-1967 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: K.N. WANCHOO · Disposal: Appeal(s) allowed

Judgment (excerpt)

A 
B 
c 
D 
E 
F 
H 
MAHANT HARNAM SINGH, CHELA OF 
BHAI NARAIN SINGH 
v. 
GURDIAL SINGH & ANR. 
February 24, 1967 
[K. N. WANCHOO, R. S. BACHAWAT AND V. BHARGAVA, JJ.] 
Code of Civil Procedure (Act 5 of 1908), s. 92-"Persons hal'ing 
interest in the trusf', meaning of. 
The appellant was the Mahant of a Gurdwara which was maintained 
for a sect known as Nirmala Sadhus and was registered as one of the 
branches of the principal institution of Nirmala Sadhus. 
All its Mahants. 
including the appellant were Nirmala Sadhus. The institution owned land, 
which was donated to it by the inferior owners of the· village. It also ran 
a free kitchen for providing food for visitors. The respondents, who were 
Sikhs, .filed a suit un&!:r s. 92, Civil Procedure Code, for the removal of 
the appellant from his office. 
They sought to establish that they bad such 
interest in the public trust as would entitle them to institute the suit, by 
showing : ( 1) that they .had interest in the tru;t property in their capacity 
as representatives of the owners of the land, and as the representa!ives of 
the residents of the village; and (2) that the institution was a Sikh 
Gurdwara meant for all persons following the Sikh faith. 
The trial court dismissed the suit, but the High Court decreed it. 
In appeal to this Court, 
HELb: (1) The respondents who were merely Lambardars and resi-
dents of the village, had, in those capacities, no such interest as would 
entitle them: to institute tl.e ouit. (743 GJ 
The mere capacity as Lambardars did not entitle them to claim that 
they were representatives of the inferior owners of land, when they them-
selves were not inferior owners of any land, nor successors-in-interest of 
'lll1Y inferior owners who donated the land. [742 F-0] 
The free kitchen was not being run for the general residents of the 
village who could, as of right, claim to be fed therein. Nor did the resi-
dents of the village ba\"e any clear interest in the particular trust entitling 
them to file such a suit, and mere residence in the village did not create 
such an interest. [743 A-BJ 
Vaidyanat/Ja Ayyar ·v. Swaminaz/Ja Ayyar, 51 I.A. 282, applied. 
( 2) The Nirmala Sadhu.•. though they started as a section of Sikhs, 
became later followers of Vedanta philosophy, adopted the customs of 
Hindu Sastras, the dress of Indian faqirs, and worshipped at Samadhis. 
Therefore, they could not be regarded as Sikhs at all, and the respondents, 
who Wl'fC Sikhs could not be held to have such an interest in the trust 
as would entitle them to f\le the suit. (745 E, H; 746 A-D; 747 B-C] 
Hein Singh v. Basantda..f, Shironiani Gurd•vara Prabandhak Comnrittee 
v. Ram Pars/Jad, 63 I.A. 180, referred lo. 
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 1377 of 
1966. 
740 
SUPIUIMB C.OUllT UPOl.TS 
(1967) 2 S.CJl. 
Appeal from the judgment and cl= dated September 7, 
1962, of the Punjab High Court in Regular First Appeal No. 29(P) 
of 1956. 
Nawrit Lal, for the appellant. 
I. M. Oberoi, S. K. Mehta and K. L. Mehta, for respondent 
No. I. 
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by 
Blwgava, J. This appeal under cer'Jficate granted by the 
Punjab High Court at Chandigarh, has been filed by Harnam 
Singh appellant against a decree passed by the High Court, decree-
ing a suit under section 92 of the Code of Civil Procedure, after 
setting aside the dismissal of the suit by the District Judge, and 
removing the appellant from the office of the Mahant of an insti-
tution descri~ in the plaint as 'Gurdwara Jhandawala.' The 
suit was brought by two plaintiffs after obtaining permission from 
the Advocate-General. One of the plaintiffs/respondents, lshar 
Singh, died and his legal representatives were not brought on the 
record. However, in view of the nature of the suit, no objection 
was raised before us about the maintainability of this appeal on 
this ground and, consequently, we refrain from dilating on this 
aspect. 
The respondents claimed in the plaint that there is one Our 
Granth Sahib at village Jhandawala in the name <'f Gurdwara 
Jhandawala which is managed by Mahant Hamam Singh appellant 
as a Mohatmim, and that he is in possession of the 'Dera' and 
agricultural land belonging to Guru Granth Sahib, Gurdwara 
Jhandawala. The Gurdwara was alleged to be a !'·~blic religious 
place which was established by the residents of the village, and it 
wa~ pleaded that this religious institution was a public trust create<l 
by the residents of the village 

Excerpt shown. Read the full judgment & AI analysis in Lexace.