Appeal No 1671 of 1966
Appeal from the judgment and decree dated March 31 1965 of the Madras High Court in Appeal No 276 of 1962
MK Ramamurthi Vineet Kumar L Ramamurthy and Shyamala Pappu for the appellant
AV Rangam for the respondents
425 The Judgment of the Court was delivered by Ramaswami J
This appeal is brought by certificate from the judgment of the Madras High Court dated March 31 1965 in AS No 276 of 1962
The appellant brought the suit in OS No 3 of 1961 in the Court of Subordinate Judge Nagapattinam for setting aside the order dated May 10 1960 of respondent No 1 the Commissioner of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Madras who had affirmed earlier the order of the second respondent the Deputy Commissioner holding that the trusteeship of the Kumaran Koil in Manjakollai village was not hereditary
The appellant was elected as a trustee by the Sengunatha Mudaliars of Manjakollai village at a meeting held on June 27 1957
According to the appellant the temple was rounded two hundred years ago by the members of his community and since then the management of the temple and is affairs was always vested in the community of the Sengunatha Mudaliars and no person other than the elected trustee had at any time the right of management and control of the temple
The appellant said that the temple was declared as an exempted temple under the provisions of Madras Act 1 of 1925
The case of the appellant was that the trusteeship of the temple was hereditary
The respondents however took a different view and proceeded on the basis that trusteeship of the Kumaran Koil was not hereditary
The Subordinate Judge held that the appellant was a hereditary trustee and the suit was not barred by limitation
The respondents took the matter in appeal to the Madras High Court which by its judgment dated March 31 1965 allowed the appeal and set aside the judgment of the Subordinate Judge Nagapattinam
Section 6 sub section
9 of Madras Act 19 of 1951 states In this Act unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context 9 hereditary trustee  means the trustee of a religious institution succession to whose office devolves by hereditary right or is regulated by usage or is specifically provided for by the founder so long as such scheme of succession is in force This Act has been substituted by Madras Act 22 of 1959 but the definition of the trustee is identical in both the Acts
The question to be considered in this appeal is whether the appellant is a hereditary trustee Within the meaning of the section
The definition includes three types of cases 1 succession to the office of trusteeship devolving by hereditary right 2 succession 426 to such office being regulated by usage and 3 succession being specifically provided for by the founder on condition that the scheme of such succession is still in force
It is not the case of the appellant that the trustees of the temple of the Kumaran Koil are hereditary trustees because their office  devolves by hereditary right or because succession to that office is specifically provided for by the founder
The contention on behalf of the appellant is that the succession is regulated by usage
It was said that according to the usage of the temple the trustees were elected for a period of one year each at a meeting of the members of the Sangunatha Mudaliar Community and so the appellant must be held to be a trustee within the meaning of section 69 of Act 19 of 1951
In our opinion there is no warrant for this argument
The phrase regulated by usage in section 69 of the Act must be construed along with the phrase succession to this office and when so construed that part of the definition would only apply where the ordinary rules of succession under the Hindu law are modified by usage and succession has to be determined in accordance with the modified rules
The word succession in relation to property and rights and interests in property generally implies passing of an interest from one person to another vide in Re Hindu Women s Right to Property Act 1941 1
It is now well established that the office of a hereditary trustee is in the nature of property
This is so whether the trustee has a beneficial interest of some sort or not see Ganesh Chunder Dhur vs Lal Behary2 and Bhabatarini vs Ashalata3
Ordinarily a shebaitship or the office of dharmakartha is vested in the heirs of the founder unless the founder has laid down a special scheme of succession or except when usage or custom to the contrary is proved to exist
Mukherjea J in Angurbala Mullick vs Debabrata Mullick4 delivering the judgment of this Court observed Unless therefore the founder has disposed of the shebaitship in any particular manner and this right of disposition is inherent in the founder or except when usage or custom of a different nature is proved to exist shebaitship like any other species of heritable property follows the line of inheritance from the founder In the case of mutts whose heads are often celibates and sometimes sanyasins special rules of succession obtain by custom and usage
In Sital Das vs Sant Ram5 the law was taken as wellsettled that succession to mahantship of a mutt or religious institution is regulated by custom or usage of the particular institution except where the rule of succession is laid down by the founder himself who created the endowment
In that case the custom in 1 2 63 I A 448
3 70 IA 57
4  5 5 ALR
1954 SC 606
427 matters of succession to mahantship was that the assembly of bairagis and worshippets of the temple appointed the successor but the appointment had to be made from the disciples of the deceased mahant if he left any and failing disciples any one of his spiritual kindred
Such a succession was described as not hereditary in the sense that on the death of an existing mahant his chela does not succeed to the office as a matter of course because the successor acquires a right only by appointment and the authority to appoint is vested in the assembly of the bairagis and the worshippets
In Sri Mahant Paramanda Das Goswami vs Radhakrishna Das1 the Madras High Court took the view that where succession to the mahantship is by nomination by the holder in office it was not a hereditary succession
In that case Venkatasubba Rao J said If the successor owes his title to nomination or appointment that is his succession depends on the volition of the last incumbent and does not rest upon independent title I am inclined to the view that the office cannot be said to be hereditary Krishnan J stated as follows Where succession is by nomination by the holder in office of his successor it seems to be impossible to contend that it is a hereditary succession
Hereditary succession is succession by the heir to the deceased under the law the office must be transmitted to the successor according to some definite rules of descent which by their own force designate the person to succeed
There need be no blood relationship between the deceased and his successor but the right of the latter should not depend upon the choice of any individual
 It is true that the artificial definition of hereditary trustee in section 69 of the Act would include even such cases
But the election to the office of trustee in the present case is for a fixed period of one year and not for life
It is therefore difficult to hold that the office of the appellant is hereditary within the meaning of section 69 of the Act
It is not possible to say that there is a succession of As office to another when on the efflux of the period for which A was appointed there is a vacancy and B is elected to that vacancy
It is quite possible that for that vacancy A himself might be reelected because a retiring trustee is eligible for reelection
The possibility of A being the successor A himself is not merely an anomaly it is an impossible legal position
No man can succeed to his own office
In Black s Law Dictionary the word succession  is defined as follows The revolution of title to property under the law of descent and distribution
1 428 The right by which one set of men may by succeeding another set acquire a property in all the goods movables and other chattels of a corporation
The fact of the transmission of the rights estate obligations and charges of a deceased person to his heir or heirs
 The view we have taken is borne out by the reasoning of the Madras High Court in State of Madras vs Ramakrishna1
For these reasons we hold that this appeal fails and must be dismissed with costs
VPS Appeal dismissed


Summary:
The appellant was elected as a trustee of a temple for one year
The temple was rounded two hundred years ago by the members of the community and according to the usage of the temple the trustees were elected for one year at a meeting of the members of the community
On the question whether the appellant has a hereditary trustee because he was under section 69 of the Madras Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act 1951 the trustee of a religious institution succession to whose office is regulated by usage  HELD The phrase succession to whose office is regulated by usage  would only apply when the ordinary rules of succession under the Hindu law are modified by usage and succession has to be determined in accordance with the modified rules
The office of a hereditary trustee is in the nature of property
Succession in relation to property implies passing of an interest from one person to another
428 C D In the present case the election to the office was for a fixed period of one year
In such a case it is not possible to say there is a succession to the office because a on the efflux of the period for which one trustee is appointed there is a vacancy and another is elected to that vacancy and b since there is a possibility of the same trustee being reelected an impossible legal position arises in which a person could be a successor of himself
429 F H In re Hindu Women s Right to Property Act 1941  Ganesh Chunder Dhur vs Lal Behary 63 IA 448 Bhabatarini vs Ashalata 70 IA 57 Angurbala Mullick vs Debabrata Mullick 1134 and Sital Das vs Sant Ram AIR 1954 SC 606 applied
Shri Mahant Paramananda Das Goswwami vs Radhakrishna Das  referred to
State of Madras vs Ramakrishna ILR  approved