Vinodkumar M Malavia & Anr vs Maganlal Mangaldas Gameti & Ors

3. The facts of the case briefly are as follows :

643/Bharuch, after the enactment of the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the BPTA’) property of which is vested with its ‘Property Committee’ and the Church of North India (hereinafter referred to as ‘the CNI’), Gujarat Diocese. The CNI is a public trust registered by an application accepted on May 12, 1970 with effect of registration being given from 1971 and the trust being formed on November 29, 1970 with Registration No. D-17/Ahmedabad.

3. These Change Reports were filed to give effect to the unification of six churches which included the FDCB, an offshoot of the ‘Brethren Church’ of USA (other Churches being The Council of the Baptist Churches in North India, The Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon, The Methodist Church (British and Australian Conference), The Methodist Church in Southern Asia and The United Church of Northern India) into a single entity, ‘The Church of North India’ (with the Gujarat Chapter being managed by the Church of North India, Gujarat, Diocese).

4. This unification is the result of a process which commenced from 1929. The negotiation meetings commenced from 1955 onwards which had representatives from the uniting churches who discussed every aspect of the emerging entity. A result of which was the Plan of Church Union in 1965 called the 4th Revised Edition in the form of a printed booklet published by the Negotiating Committee and widely circulated and deliberated by the uniting Churches which adopted the same. The plan traced the historic background leading to the creation of the CNI and dealt with all aspects of the same. Part-II of the same pertained to procedural details of the unification. The plan is a result of the negotiations through various meetings convened in the years 1955, 1956, 1957, 1961, 1964 and 1970. The Managing Committee of the FDCB being the ‘District Committee’ initially participated in these meetings as an observer, however, from 1956, it joined the negotiation process. It is alleged that Resolution No. 70/08 was passed on February, 17, 1970 pursuant to which the CNI was formed by merging the six churches. FDCB being one of the six churches, discussed the unification internally within its 21 Societies and put the same to vote at different junctions and in the final decision, the resolution was approved by 3/5th majority of the representatives of the Governing Body. Allegedly, on November 29, 1970, the FDCB merged with the other six churches to form CNI and accepted the same as its legal continuation and successor and vested with the CNI its rights, titles, claims and FDCB’s interests together with its privileges and obligations.

5. In 1976, the Church of North India Trust Association (hereinafter referred to as ‘the CNITA’) was formed under the Indian Companies Act, 1956 and appointed as the trustee of CNI. It has been alleged that the annual meetings of the FDCB were discontinued post 1971. That certain members which had earlier given consent to Resolution 70/08 began to raise objections that FDCB continued to exist. Subsequently, the original plaintiff (Shri A.O. Patel) filed Civil Suit No. 72 of 1979 in the Court of the Civil Judge, Senior Division, Bharuch for a declaration that FDCB has come to an end and that CNI is the legal successor and continuation of the same. During the pendency of the suit, CNI got itself registered retrospectively and Change Report Nos. 44/81 and 665/81 were filed before the Charity Commissioner to give effect to the changes resulting the unification. The aforementioned suit, after an appeal before the District Judge, Bharuch went before the Gujarat High Court as Second Appeal No. 303 of 1986, the same was dismissed and the matter came up before this Court as Church of North India v. Lavajibhai Ratanjibhai & Ors. (supra) (In Civil Appeal No. 9419 of 2003, decided on May 3, 2005). Therein, the question which arose before this Court was: whether Section 80 of the BPTA imposes a bar on the jurisdiction of the Civil Court.

7. The Charity Commissioner adjudicated on the disputes arising out of the Change Report Nos. 44/81 and 665/81. The former was filed by Shri A.O. Patel being the Reporting Trustee of the Brethren Trust concerned with the dissolution of the constitution of the Brethren Trust with its “Memorandum of Association” becoming “obsolete” and ineffective (It should be noted that Shri A.O. Patel had died during the pendency of the proceedings and appellant Nos. 1 and 2 were joined in his place). The latter report was filed by CNI, Gujarat Diocese Trust which requests for the change, that as the CNI Trust has become the legal continuation and successor of the Brethren Trust, its concerned movable and immovable property must be added to CNI’s properties. The Change Reports were objected by Shri Nityanand Thakore and other objectors filed similar objection applications. These persons along with the respondents in this dispute being Shri Shantilal Thakore and Shri Maganlal M. Gameti had earlier given consent to the unification proceeding. The Charity Commissioner thus adjudicated on the following questions:-

8. Against the abovementioned order of the Charity Commissioner, the objectors to the Change Reports preferred Civil Miscellaneous Application Nos. 470 of 2008 and 630 of 2008 before the City Civil Court, Ahmedabad under Section 72 of the BPTA. The applications were filed, alleging that there was no lawful merger of the Trust and the property vested with the Property Committee continued to exist with it. The questions which arose before the learned City Civil Judge are as under:-

26. Having analysed the facts and the law in the matter, we are of the opinion that the High Court and the City Civil Court have rightly adjudicated on the matter in question and correctly set aside the order passed by the Charity Commissioner.

27. Accordingly, we affirm the order passed by the High Court.

28. For the reasons aforementioned, we do not find any merit in the present appeals and the same are dismissed accordingly.