The Shri Govindaji Temple Act, 1972

Manipur · state statute

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THE SHRI GOVINDAJI- TEMPLE<B'I‘I:1:; 1972.
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to pro Vide for the preservation of cultural tradition andfor the maintenance and better administration 'Qf thetemple Q/"S/zrz' Govina’ajz‘ at Imphal and ilsendowmenfs.WHEREAS it is expedientte make a law for the preserva-tion of cultural tradition with respect to the deity “Of ShriGovindaji and for the maintenance and better administra-tion of the temple thereof and its endowments ;.It is hereby enacted by the Legislature of Manipuh-iﬁ; theTwenty-third Year bf the Republic of India as follows ts~1. (1) This Act may be called the Shri Govindaji Temple ‘31;Act, 1972.
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HI(2) It shall come into force on such date as the Stateovemment may, by notiﬁcation; in the Ofﬁcial Gazette,appoint. '

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2. In this Act, unless the context otherWise requires,~ rm((1) “Board” means the SIM Govindaii Temple;Board established and constituted ~under thiSct; - ‘(2:) “Deputy Cgmmissioner” means the Depﬂtyf ;-Commissioner of Manip‘ur Central District ;(e) ‘fEndowment” means all property, movable or
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(i) the Temple,
(ii) the idols installed therein,
(iii) the precincts thereof, and
(iv) the gifts of property or offering made toto any of the dieties worshipped therein ;(d) “Executive ’Oﬁicer” means the Executive Ofﬁcerof the Temple appeinted under this Act ;(e) “ex—Ruler” means the eX~Ruler of Manipur who,at any time before the commencement of theConstitutien (Twenty-Sixth Amendment) Act,1972, wae recognised by the President of Indiaas the Ruler of Manipur, and includes hissuccessors under the rule of primogeniture ;(f) “Member” means a member of the Shri GovindajiTemple Board and does not include the President ;(g) “Ofﬁcial Gazette”_ means the Manipur Gazette;'(h) “Prescribed” means prescribed by; rules madeunder this Act ;
(1') “President” means the President of the ShriGovindaji Temple Board ; '(j) “Speciﬁed endowment” means any property,endowment, or money donated for the perfor-mance of any particular service or any particularcharity connected with the temple and anyof the idols installed therein ;
(k) “State Government“ means the State Govern-ment of Manipur ;
(1) “Temple” means the temple of Shri Govindajiat Imphal and includes all appurtenant structurestogether With all additions thereto or allalterations thereof which may be made fromtime to time after the commencement of thisAct ;
(m) “Temple-fund” means the endowment andinc udes all sums of money received by or onbehalf of, or for the time being held for thebeneﬁt of, the Temple or any diety worshipped ‘therein ; and
(n) “Vice-President” means the Vice-President ofthe Shri Govindaji Temple Board.
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3. (1) The administration and the governance of theTemple and the Temple fund shall vest in the Shri GovindajiTemple Board constituted under this Act.
(2) The) ownership of the Temple fund shall vest inthe deity of Shri Govin,daji,'and the Board shall be entitledto its possession.
4. (1;) The Shri Govindaji Temple Board shall beconstituted by a President, and ex—oﬂicio member and nineother membrs. '
(2) ‘ The ex-Ruler of Manipur shall be the Presidentof the Board, if he is not disqualiﬁed for any of the reasonsspeciﬁed in section 6_:
Provided that in case the ex-Ruler is not willing to sawas the President of the Board or in case he has no successorin the male line,the State Government shall make appointmentof a person as the President.
(3) .The Deputy Commissioner shall be the ex-oiﬁciomember 'of the Board : .
Provided that in case the Deputy Commissioner doesnot profess the Hindu religion, he shall deput‘e the Sub-Divisional Ofﬁcer of either Imphal West or Impha] East
Sub~Division professing the Hindu religion to function onhis behalf‘as the ex-oﬂicio member.
(4) The State Government shall appoint the othernine members of the Board, Who shall be persons not dis-qualiﬁed for any of the reasons speciﬁed in section 6 :
Provided that two such members shall be from amongstthe ‘Hindu members of the Legislative Assembly of Manipurand one such member from amongst the Hindu Commissionersof the Imphal Municipal Board : »
Provided further that When as a result of dissolutionthere is no Legislative Assembly of Manipur or no ImphalMunicipal Board, the State Government shall not be requiredto make such appointments in accordance With the ﬁrst‘proviso to this sub-section. '
. (5) The State Government shall appoint any memberof the Board as the Vice-President thereof.
Explanation.~For the purposes of this section, the word“dissolution” in ‘the' second proviso to sub—section (4)1ncludessupersession of the Imphal Municipal Board, .

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Compéi
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ﬂra- 5. (1) The Board shall be a body corporate. and shallhave perpetual successmn and a common seal and mayseu or besued in its name.
(2) As soon as the Board is constituted under. section 4,the State Government shall make notiﬁcation thereof inthe Oﬂicial Gazette.
- ca. 6. A person shall be disqualiﬁed for being chosen as, and$525111; for being, a member of the Board
(a) if he holds any ofﬁce of proﬁt under the adminis-tration of the Temple, or receives any emolumentsor perquisites from the Temple fund, otherthan those granted under section 14 ;.‘or
(b) if he is interested in a contract for making suppliesto, or executing any work on behalf of theadministration of the Temple ; or
.(c) if he is of unsound mind and stands sodeclaredby a competent court ; or
(d) if he is an undischarged insolvent ; or
(e) if he is not a citizen of India ; or
(f) if he is a minor or a deaf-mute or suffers fromcontagious leprosy ; or’
(g) if he has been convicted of an oﬂence (which,in the opinion of the State Government,‘iny_lolvesmoral turpitude; or '(h) if he does not profess theHindu- religion ; or(i) if he has, in the opinion of the State Goveemment,acted in a manner prejudicial to the interestof the endowment. ‘
Jenn of 7. The members of the Board, other than the ex-oﬂiciom“ member thereof, shall subject to the provisions of section 8,9, and 12, hold ofﬁce 'for 1a period of :three years from thedate. on which the constitution of the Board is notiﬁed inthe Ofﬁcial Gazette undersub-section (2) of section 5 :
Provided that the State Government may, by notiﬁcationin the Oﬂicial‘Gazette extend the term ofrt e members fora period not exceeding three months at a time-and s'ixmonthsin'the aggregate :
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Provided further that if a member, having been appointed
under the ﬁrst proviso to sub-sectlon (4) of section 4, ceases
to be a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manipur
or a Commissioner of the Imphal Municipal Board, as
the case may be, he shall ipso facto cease to be a member
of the Board.
8. (1) The President may at any time, by writing under “*ﬁ‘
hiisfl hand addressed to the State Government, resign his L
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(2) The Vice-President may, at any time, by writing
under his hand addressed to the President, resign his ofﬁce
‘ Without, however, giving up his membership of the Board.
(3) A member, other than the ex—oﬁicio member, may
at any time, by writing under his hand addressed to the
President, resign his oﬂice.
. '(4) The letter of resignation under sub-section (2) or ,
sub-section (3) shall, as soon as it is received, be transmitted
by the President to the State Government.
9. (1) The State Government may at any time suspend Removq
or remove the President from oﬁieeron any of the grounds
mentioned in clauses (a), (b) and (c) of sub-section (2) of
this section :
Provided that in the case of disqualiﬁcation of ex-Ruler
on the ground of his minority, the State Government shall
appoint a person to function as the President until the ex-Ruler
attains majority under the Indian Majority Act, 1875 (IX of
1875).
(2) The State Government may at any time suspend
or remove from oﬂice the Vice-President or any member,
other‘than the ex-oﬁicio member, of the'Board on any of
the following grounds, namely : _
(a) that he has been guilty of corruption of miscon-
duct in the administration of the endowment ; or
(b) that, being a legal practitioner, he has acted or
appeared on behalf of any person against the Board
in any legal proceeding ; or
(e) that he is or has become subject to any of the disqua-
“ liﬁcations mentioned in section 6 ; or
(d) that he has absented himself from more than three
consecutive meetings of the Board and fails to - ex—
plam such absence to the satisfaction of the Board,
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g! 19. Casual vacancies in the ofﬁce. of President, the
1E' V1' 'ee-President and any member of the Board shall be ﬁlledup by the State Government by appointment of persons whoare not disqualiﬁed under section 6 :Provided that if the vacancy is that of the President, thesucessor of the ex-Ruler by the rule of primogeniture shall,unless disqualiﬁed under section 6, be the President.11. A ‘person who holds, or who has held, ofﬁce as the
. the Vice-President or any other member shall, subject to thethe provisions of this Act, be eligible for reappointmentto that office. ’
12. (1) If in the opinion of the State Governmentthe Board is not competent to perform, or persistently
the provisions contained in sub-section (1) and sub-section (2),dissolve the Board by notiﬁcation in the Ofﬁcial Gazetteand direct the reconstitution of another Board in accordancewith the provisions of this Act.(4) Where the Board .is dissolved or ysuperseded underthis section, the State Government shall appoint a personto perform the functions, and exercise, the powers, of theatd until the constitution of another Board in accordancewith the previsions of this Act.
(5) The 'State Government may ﬁx the remuneration
of the person appointed under sub-section (4), and it shall
be paid from the Temple fund.
13. (1) The Oﬂice of the Board shall be at Imphal.
V (2) Every meeting of the Board shall be presided over
by the President, and in his absence, by the Vice-President,
and in the absence of both, by a member to be chosen by
the members present. '
(3) The quorum for a meeting of the Board shall be
ﬁve, and if at any time during a meeting of the Board there '
is no quorum, it shall be the duty of the President or the
person acting assuch, to adjourn the meeting. :
‘ Provided that if no quorum is present at a meeting at
any time from the beginning to the end thereof, the presiding
authority shall, after waiting for not more than thirty minutes,
adjourn the meeting to such time of the following or some
other future day as it may reasonably ﬁx and shall notify,
and the business which would have been disposed of at
the original meeting, had there been a quorum thereat,
shall be brought before the adjourned meeting and may
be disposed of at such meeting or at any subsequent ad-
journment thereof Whether there be a quorum present or not.
(4) Meetings of the Board shall be held at least once
in two months, and the place for such a meeting shall be
at Imphal unless a majority of the members decide to meet
at some other convenient place.
(5) All questions at any meeting of the Board shall
be determined by a majority of votes of the members present
and voting, other than the President or the person acting
as such. »
The President,_ or theperson acting as such, shall not
vote in the ﬁrst instance, but shall have and * exercise a
casting- vote in the case of an equality of votes.
(6) The Board shall have power to act notwithstanding
any vacancy in the membership thereof, and any proceedings.
of a meeting of the Board shall- be valid notwithstanding
that it is discovered subsequently that some person who
was not entitled 'so to do, sat or voted 'or otherwise took
part in the prowedings,

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- 14.‘ The President, the ViceaPresid-ent and every other
mber of the Board shall be entitled to receive from the
mple fund such travelling and sitting allowances as may
i$e prescribed. .
15. Subject to the provisions of this Act or Of the rules
made thereunder, the functions of the Board shallbe—
(a) to make arrangement for the safe custody and
preservation of the Temple fund and for main-
tenance of accounts thereof f
(b) to provide facilities for the proper performance
of worship by worshippers and pilgrims ;
(c) to undertake for the beneﬁt of the worshippers
and pilgrims——-
(i) the construction of _ buildings for their
accommodation,
(ii) the construction of sanitary works, and
(iii) the improvement of means of communication;
(d) to make suitable arrangement for imparting
religious instruction ;
(e) to make provision for medical relief of worship-
pers and pilgrims ; ,
(f) to make provision for the payment of subitable
emoluments to its salaried staﬁ' ;
(g) to raise funds and incur expenditure for the
performance of any of the functions of the
Board; and
(h) to do all such things as may be incidental and
conducive to the efﬁcient management, main-
tenance and administration of the Temple and
the Temple fund and the convenience of the
pilgrims.
1M» * 16. The President, the Vice-President and the other
' '°' members of the Board shall, jointly and severally, be liable
for the loss, waste or misapplication of the Temple fund :
Provided that if .such loss, waste or misapplimtion is a
direct consequence of the wilful act or omission of a person
while he was the President, the Vice-President or a member,
a. suit. for compensation may be instituted against such a
person by-the Board or by the State Government.

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‘ 172(1) Notwithstandingthe provision of. sub-seetion (1) "
of section 3-,- all matters connected with the seva and puja 5:3
and other, ceremonies and of festivals of the Temple
according to the customs and usages of the Hindu religion
shall be under the direct control of the President and under
the supervision of the Board. ’
(2) The "expenditure to be incurred in such celebrations
shall be provided for in the annual budget of the Temple.
18. Any speciﬁc endowment shall be administered by
the Board for the performance of the particular, service
or the particular charity according to the wishes of the donOr m
of such endowment.

19'. The Board shall have no power to borrow or lend 14"
money except With the pr’ev1ous sanction of the State Govern- m
ment. ,
20. No part of the Temple ‘f‘und shall be transferred
without the previous sanction of the State Government.
21. (1) The State Government shall, on the enforcement Ex'
of this Act, appoint a person possessing the prescribed
qualiﬁcations. as the Executive Ofﬁcer of the Temple.
(2) The Executive Ofﬁcer shall be the Secretary to the
Board, who shall, subject to the control of the Board, have
general power to carry out the provisions of this Act, the
rules and the bye-laws made thereunder and the resolutions
passed by the Board.
(3) The Executive Officer shall perform such other
duties and‘ exercise such other powers as may be delegated
to him from time to time by the Boarci. '
(4) The State Government shall ﬁx the remuneration
of tcille Executive Ofﬁcer and it shall be paid. from the Temple
fun .
22. (1) The Board shall, with the approval of the State W
Government, determine from time to time the number,
designation, and” grade of its ofﬁcers and servants and the
scale of pay and allowances for them.
(2) The Board shall appoint the ofﬁcers and servants
of the Board.
(3) The oﬁicers-and servants of the Board shall perfbrm
such duties and exercise such powers as may, from time
to time, be ﬁxed by the Executive Ofﬁcer with the approval
of the Board, "

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(4) The ay and allowances of the ofﬁcers and servantsshall be paid gem the Temple fund.(5) The Board may SUSpend, remove, dismiss or reducein rank or in any way punish all ofﬁcers and servants ofthe Board other than the Executive Ofﬁcer, in accordancewith rules made by the State Government.v (6) Any ofﬁcer or servant who is aggrieved by an orderpassed under sub—sectr’on (5) may prefer an appeal to theState Government against such an order withm sixty daysof the date of service of such an order :Provided that no appeal against an order other- thanan order for removal or dlsmissal shall lie to the StateGovernment.
shall, unless otherwise provided in an order issued in thatbehalf by the State Government, be dispensed with.(2) After the commencement of this Act by notiﬁcationunder sub—seetz'on 2) of section 1 and before the constitution ‘of the Board by notiﬁcation under sub-sectlon (2) of section 5,the State Government may appoint one or more personst}: discharge all or any of the functions of the Board undert. 's Act.
24. The President, the Vice-President and the othermembers, the Executive-Ofﬁcer and other ofﬁcers and servantsof the Board shall, while acting or purporting to act inpursuance of the provisions of this Act or any rule, bye-Iawor order made thereunder, be deemed to be public servantsWithin the meaning of sect‘on 21 of the Indian Penal Code.25. (1) The State Government shall every year appointan auditor to audit the accounts of the Temple fund.(2) The remuneration of the auditor shall be ﬁxedby the State Government at the time of his appointmentand shall be paid from the Temple fund. '(3,) The auditor shall submit the audit—report to theBoard and send a copy of it to the State Government.(4) The State Government may issue such directionsand pass such orders on the audit-report as it may deemﬁt, and the Board shall carry them out.
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26. (1) The Board. shall in reSpect of every ﬁnancial Budgeﬁiiyear prepare or cause to ~> be prepared an annual budget .containing a statement , of the estimated receipts andexpenditure of * the administration of the Temple for thatyear.
(2) Board shall consider and pass the budget with' alterations, if any, at a meeting or meetings before thecommencement .of that year, and a copy of the budget shall:besmtto-the‘ State Government as soon as it is so passed.
27. The Board shall annually prepare and submit to A ,the State Government a report on the administration of ““1 R];the affairs ofthe Temple at such time as may be prescribed.
.28. (l) The State Government may, from time to timeissue such directions to the Board as it may deem ﬁt, and Sthe-Board s'hallicarry them out. t(2) The State Government shall have power to call forsuch information and. accounts from the Board as may in ace. its opinion be necessary for reasonably satisfying itself thatthe Temple and the Temple . fund are properly managed,maintained and administered, and the Board shall, on suchrequisition, furnish forthwith such information and accountsto the State Government.
29 (1) The State Government may depute a person to Inspection;-inspect any movable or immovable property, records,..-cor:respondence, plans, accounts, and other documents,relating --to the Temple.
. (2) The person appointed under this section may alsoinspect-whether a speciﬁc endowment, if any, is administeredaccor‘dingto the wishes of the donor of such an endowment.3(3) TheBoard and its employees shall, for the purposesof inspection,~»render all facilities to the person appointedunder this section.
. :30; (l) The IBoard'may make bye-laws not inconsistent Power of W;

with this Act or the rules made thereunder or any other ggigdbg;law for—
laws.
(a) the procedure and conduct of business atmeetings. of the Board, the manner in which‘ 'notice of its meetings . shall be given and the<manner in 'whioh proceedings of its“ meetings 'shall be reeerded and published ;.

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am6‘6.
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(b) the formation of committees, and‘ the delegation
of powers to such committee ; .
(c) the books and accounts to be kept at the ofﬁce
of the Board ;
(d) thedcustody and investment of the Temple
un ;
(e) the collection of the daily offerings to thexde'ities
worshipped in the Temple ;
(f) the maintenance of order inside the Temple-
and regulatingthe entry of persons therein. ; and
(g) the performance of functions provided in,
section 15. ‘
(2) No bye-law or cancellation or alteration thereof
made by the Board shall have effect until it is conﬁrmed
by the State Government. ’ -
(3) Where a bye-law or cancellation, or alteration
thereof is submitted to the State Government for con-
ﬁrmation, the State, Government ma --
(a) conﬁrm it as a whole ; or
(b) conﬁrm it With some changes ; or
(c) withhold the conﬁrmation.
(4) A bye-law or cancellation or alteration thereof
conﬁrmed under clause (a) or Clause(b) of sub—section (3)
shall be published in the Ofﬁcial Gazette, and-shall thereafter
have the force of 'laW.
31. If in obtaining possession of any property which
-_ forms the Temple fund or- part of it- the Beard is resisted
or obstructed. by any person.» it may make anapplication
to the Magistrate having-jurisdiCtion, complaining of such
resistance .or obstructioh,‘ and. such? Magistrateshall, nnless
he is satisﬁed that the resistance or obstruction was oecasroned
by any person claiming in good faith to be m possessmn
on his own account or by virtue of some right independent
of that of the .Temple, make .an order that the Bbardlbe
put into possession of ' the property. Such order shall,-
subject to the result of any suit which may be ﬁled to estabhsh
the right to the possessioniof the property, be ﬁnal.
32. All costs and expenses incutred by the Board in
connection with any legal proceedings required in the
ifnteaest of the Temple shall be payable out of the Temple
un ,
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33 (1) This Act shall have effect notwithstanding anything 0
to the contrary contained in any law for the time being in «ﬁg
force or in any sceh me of management framed before the AW?"
commencement of this Act or in any decree, order, practice, . i
custom or usage. ‘
(2) Section 92 of the Code of Civil Procedure. 1908 shall
not apply to any suit against the Board. .
’34. (l) The State Government may, be notiﬁcation in Pom:. Ofﬁcial Gazette, make rule for carrying out the purposes 22
this Act. :31
(2) In particular and Without prejudice to the generality ““3““
the forgoing power, such rules may provide for——
(a) all matters expressly required or allowed by
this Act to be provided for by rules;
(b) the quliﬁcation for the Executive Ofﬁcer and
other oﬂicers and servents of the Board, the
establishment of provident fund for them and
the conditions of their service;
(c) the grant of leave and travelling allowances to
the Executive Oﬂicer and other ofﬁcers and
sarvents of the Board;
(d) the payment of travelling allowance and sitting
allowances of the President, the Vice-President
and the other members of the Board;
(e) the budgets, returns, accounts, reports, andany other information to be submitted bythe Board to the State Government; and
(f) the co-option by the Board of not more than
two members subject to the retriction that
the co-opted members shall not have the rightto vote'at any metting of the Board.
35. Whenever any difﬁculty arises in giving effect pommg‘;
to any of the provisions of this Act, the rules, bye-laws State 3
and orders made thereunder, the State Government may 5mg?"
give such directions as may appear to it to be necessary difﬁcultieu
for the purpose of removing (the difficulty.
36. No suit or proceeding shall lie in any Court against 13“ ‘36;ngthe State Government for anything done or purported to ?.Egmmgbe done by it under the provisions of this Act. 3133:». t}

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STATEMENT OF OBJECTS & REASONS'e Constitution (Ttventy-Sngt:l1 Amendment) Act, 1971 has been
ed with effed from 28~12~7l. The Ruler of Manipur standsgnised. According to the Article II of the Manipur Mergerﬁght the Ex~Ruler was managing the affairs of the temple of
' Shree GJVindajee after derecognlsatlon of the Ruler. There
and from the general public of Manipur that a trustee should
lscituted for the management of the above temple. To fulﬁl
_ sgre of the general public, the Shri Govindaji Temple Bill isduced on the table of the House.

. {.lnzplzal,
4th November, 1972. YUMNAM YAIMA

Executive Ofﬁcer 1 Q2; Rs 750 — Rs 9,000,"-Clerk ~ 2 @ Rs. 250/- ‘ Rs. 6,000;-Peon l QD, Rs 150/- Rs. 1,800 '—Q' Sweeper 3 Q9 Rs lSO/- Rs. 5,400,"-Bramhins 5 (co Rs 250/- Rs. 15,000,”—Diuhons 4 Q5 Rs 200/- Rs 9,600 -._) Others establishment
Rs 5.000 -) Daily pujas etc. ‘ Rs. 4,200]—) Misc. Expenditure forother festival, etc.
Rs. 10,000?-
Totalw Rs. 66,000]—
MEMO ON DELEGATED LEGISLATION"Clauses 34 of the proposed law provides {Or the powers of the,..§ta_te Government to make rules for carrying out the burposes of2.6 proposed law. These powers are of general and procedural

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