Indian Trusts Act, 1882

The parties entered into a ten‑year tenancy agreement for godowns that contained an arbitration clause. When the lease expired, the landlord sought possession and invoked the arbitration clause, appointing an arbitrator under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. The tenant appealed, arguing that th…

The dispute concerned a property waqfed in 1940 by Swami Satya Dev to Respondent No.2 (Prachaarini Sabha) for the purpose of promoting Hindi language, establishing a library and other charitable activities, subject to conditions prohibiting sale or mortgage. The appellants, interested in ensuring the purpose of the waq…

The Maharashtra State Board of Wakfs was incorporated on 4 January 2002 and subsequently published lists of wakf properties on 13 November 2003 and 30 December 2004. Several Muslim public trusts challenged the Board’s constitution, the validity of the lists, and the applicability of Section 13(2) of the Wakf Act, 1995,…

The appellant, the idol of Sri Renganathaswamy, challenged a suit filed by the Anandhana Trust seeking civil‑court permission to sell a portion of a property that had been endowed for charitable activities associated with the deity. The central question was whether the 1901 Deed of Settlement created a ‘specific endowm…

The dispute concerned six acres of land belonging to the Maruti Dev Temple, which had been let out to tenants who, on Tillers' Day (1 April 1957), became deemed purchasers under Section 32 of the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948. The temple trust was registered as a public trust under the Bombay Public T…

Anita Merchant booked three flats from Suneja Towers Private Limited, paid 60% of the price, but the builder failed to deliver possession even after the agreed period, leading her to file consumer complaints. The District Forum dismissed the complaints, but the State Consumer Commission reversed the decision, ordering …

The case concerned a suit land that was a Paragana watan property leased to a permanent Mirashi tenant, Ramchandra, who mortgaged the land in 1947. The Bombay Paragana and Kulkarni Watans (Abolition) Act, 1950 later resumed the land to the Government, but the tenant's lease subsisted under the proviso to Section 3(3) a…

The Supreme Court of India addressed two interconnected issues: whether landlord-tenant disputes governed by the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 are arbitrable, and the scope of judicial review under Sections 8 and 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. The case arose from a tenancy agreement containing an ar…

The Haryana Government issued a notification under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 to acquire land for an industrial township, after which many landholders sold their land to private builders at inflated prices. The State later dropped the acquisition on 24 August 2007 and again on 29 January 2010, allegedly to benefit …

The appellant, a permanent trustee of the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust, alleged that the other trustees and the deceased managing trustee misappropriated trust assets and were guilty of non‑feasance and mal‑feasance. An application under Section 41D of the Bombay Public Trust Act was filed before the Joint Cha…

The plaintiff sought specific performance of a sale agreement entered into by the trustees of the Subbaiah Paniker Family Welfare Trust. The appellant, a beneficiary of the trust, applied to be impleaded as a defendant, alleging prejudice if the sale proceeded at the agreed price. The trial court allowed his impleadmen…

The appellant, a liaison for a private university, was issued a cheque of Rs.5 crore by the respondent, who was the Chairman and authorized signatory of Orion Education Trust, but the cheque was dishonoured. The appellant filed a criminal complaint under Sections 138 and 142 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 and …

The appellant, a male descendant of the original founder trustee, sought declaration that he was entitled to the office of founder trustee of M/s. P.S. Govindaswamy Naidu & Sons’ Charities, asserting that he satisfied the residence requirement under the Scheme of Administration. The respondents contended that his U.S. …

The appellants, a trust operating a hall on land allotted by the Cochin Devaswom Board, challenged the Board's unilateral increase of the annual licence fee from Rs.227.25 to Rs.1,50,000 and the subsequent demand for arrears. The High Court upheld the fee increase but, beyond the scope of the writ petition, directed th…

The appellant, a public‑spirit organization, challenged the State of Madhya Pradesh's reservation and allotment of 20 acres of Nazul land to the Shri Kushabhau Thakre Memorial Trust (later respondent No.5) on the ground that the process violated Article 14 of the Constitution. The land was allotted without any public a…

Operation Asha, a not‑for‑profit society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, provides health services to the under‑privileged. After the society’s CEO terminated co‑founder Dr. Shelly Batra, she and her mother filed a suit under Section 92 of the Code of Civil Procedure alleging financial impropriety…

The Supreme Court examined a batch of appeals challenging the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal's (NCLAT) order that set aside the approval of a resolution plan for Appu Hotels Ltd. The Court held that the resolution applicant, M.K. Rajagopalan, was ineligible to submit a plan because he was the managing trustee …