SETH CHAND RATANversusPANDIT DURGA PRASAD (D) BY LRS. AND ORS.

                          SETH CHAND RATAN                                         A
                                       v.

        PANDIT DURGA PRASAD (D) BY LRS. AND ORS.

                             MARCH 28, 2003
                                                                                   B
           [S. RAJENDRA BABU AND G.P. MATHUR, JJ.]


       MP. Public Trust Act, 1951-Sections 4, 5, 7, 8, 26(2) and 27--
Application for registration of a temple as public trust-later withdrawn ard       C
the temple declared as private property-Second application by another person
for registration of temple as different public trust-Temple declared as such-
later, records amended showing the lemple as private property-Application
 before Regislra1jor proper management of the trusl properly-Registrar m~e
reference u!s 26(2) to Court for adjudication of validity of order amending the
records-Amendment of Records held not valid by the Court-Appeal against            D
 order of Court under the Act dismissed-Writ petition challenging the order
ofreference and order of the Court-Petition allowed hy Single Judge ofHigh
Court taking the view that order declaring the temple as public trust was due
to clerical mistake and relied on inqui1y report ofSDO in the first application
for registering the temple as public trust-Order of Single Judge upheld by         E
Division Bench-On appeal, held: The order declaring the temple as public
trust was not on account of clerical mistake-The same having become final,
it was not open to Registrar to correct the records, as the only remedy against
it was a civil suit-Report of SDO in 1he first case having not been concluded
in view of withdrawal application, cannot form basis offinding ofHigh Court-
 Writ petition not liable to be entertained since the remedy of statutory appeal   F
before High Court had already been availed and had attained finality.

       Constitution of India, 1950-Artic/es 226 and 227-Jurisdiction under-
Scope of-In 1he event of availability of alternate statutory remedy-Held:
 When o statute provides a remedy or procedure for enforcing the right or
liability, resort must be had to that particular remedy before seeking G
discretionary remedy under Article 226-However, High Court can exercise
the jurisdiction notwithstanding existence of alternative remedy where the
authority taking action lacks complete jurisdiction, or there is violation of
fundamenlal right or principles of natural justice or where the authority acted
 under the provision of law which is ultra Vires.                               H
                                      75
                                                                                    J
    76                   SUPREME COURT REPORTS                  [2003] 3 S.C. R.

A         The temple in dispute had some shops in its precincts which were
    let out to tenants. Brother of respondent moved an application under M.P.
    Public Trust Act, 1951 for registration of the temple in dispute as Madan
    Mohan Mandir Trust, (public trust) and the same was registered as Case
    No.73. Another application was moved by father of appellant before the
B   Registrar for registration of the temple Maheshwari Panchayati Mandir
    and this application was registered as case No. 206. Thereafter, brother
    of respondent moved an application for withdrawal of his application
    No.73 stating therein that the temple was a private trust of his family and
    not a public trust and he had filed application for registration of the trust
    under some misconception about the provisions of the Act. Registrar
C   allowed the application for withdrawal.However, before passing the order
    of withdrawal, Registrar allowed Case No.206 and Maheshwari Panchayati
    Mandir had been registered as a public trust and the property including
    the shops in precincts thereof were shown to be the property of the trust.
    Brother of respondent thereafter again moved an application before the
    Registrar for correction of records and it was directed that the Mandir
D   be recorded as his private trust. Appellant then moved an application
    before Registrar for issuing appropriate directions for proper management
    of the trust property impleading the respondent and some tenants of the
    shop as opposite parties. The Registrar by order dated 13.12.1983 held
    that the order passed in Case No.206 being of a binding nature, the validity
E   of the order for amendment of records by the Registrar had to be
    adjudicated upon by a Court under Section 26(1)(c) of the Act. Since the
    respondent had not moved the application, the Registrar made a reference
    to the Court under Section 26(2) of the Act. Additional District Judge
    decided the reference holding that the order of amendment of records was
    not in accordance with law and was not binding. It directed to handover
F   the management of Madan Mohan Mandir to the trustees and Managers
    of Maheshwari Panchayati Mandir and the tenants in the shop were
    directed to pay rent to them; and the Registrar was directed to make
                                                                                        •
    inquiry to see proper management of accounts of the income arising out
    of the temple. Respondent's first appeal under Section 27(3) of the Act
G   challenging the judgment of Additional District Judge was dismissed.
    Respondent then filed writ petition under Articles 226 and 227 of the
    Constitution of India for quashing the order dated 13.12.1983 of the
    Registrar and the Order of the Additional District Judge. Single Judge
    allowed the Writ Petition holding that in the case initiated by the brother
    of respondent for declaration of the temple as public trust, a detailed
H   inquiry was made by SDO and after recording statement of some witnesses
           SETH CHANDRA TAN v.PANDIT DURGA PRASAD (D) BY LRS.               77
he had come to the conclusion that the temple and the shops i.n the               A
precincts thereof were his personal property; that the order passed by the
Registrar in case No. 206 had been passed on account of a clerical mistake,
hence there was no occasion for the Registrar to make a reference to the
Courts under Section 26 of the Act, and consequently the order dated
31.12.1983 making the reference and the order passed by the Additional            B
District Judge were illegal.

      In appeal, Division Bench of High Court concurred with the
reasoning of Single Judge. In appeal to this Court appellant contended
that the order of Registrar directing correction of records was illegal and
without jurisdiction because the order of the Registrar registering               C
Maneshwari Panchyati Mandir having become final in view of Section 7(2)
of the Act, the only remedy available against it was to file a civil suit under
Section 8 of the Act; that the appeal preferred by the respondents having
been dismissed by the High Court, it was not open to the High Court to
quash the very same order in a Writ Petition under Articles 226 and 227
of the Constitution of India.                                                     D
      Respondent contended that brother of respondent had moved an
application for Registration of the Mandir as a public trust under a
misconception; that the order passed by the Registrar making a reference
to the Court was illegal in as much as such direction could be issued only
in the case of a public trust and since the temple was a private property,        E
order of the District Judge was also illegal and the same was rightly
quashed in the writ petition.

      Allowing the appeal, the Court

       HELD: 1. The view taken by the High Court is not supported by              F
the provisions of M.P. Public Trust Act, 1951. In view of Section 5, 7 and
8 of the Act, the order passed by the Registrar in case no. 206; by which
it was held that Maheshwari Panchayati Mandir is a public trust and Shri
Madan Mohan Mandir and the shops in the precincts thereof were the
property of the trust and were being managed by it, became final and              G
conclusive. The only remedy available against the order was to institute a
civil suit under Section 8 of the Act for setting aside the said finding. In
these circumstances, it was not open to the Registrar to entertain a
correction application and to record that Shri Madan Mohan Mandir is
a private trust. The proceedings initiated in Case No. 73 having been
withdrawn, the result was that no final order, one way or the other, was          H
    78                    SUPREME COURT REPORTS                  (2003] 3 S.C.R.

A   passed in case No.73 and, therefore, any report submitted by the SDO in
    the said case could not form the basis for holding that the order passed in
    case no.206 initiated on the application of Maheshwari Panchayati Samaj
    had been passed on account of any clerical mistake. 185-G, H; 86-B-DI•

          2.1. High Court committed manifest error of law in entertaining and
B allowing the writ petition and, therefore, order passed by Single Judge
    and the order passed by the Division Bench in letters patent appeal are
    liable to be set aside. (89-B(                                                  -.
          2.2. Division Bench in holding that existence of an alternative remedy
    does not divest the High Court of its jurisdiction to entertain a petition
C   under Articles 226 and 217 of the Constitution failed to notice that the
    statute itself provided a regular appeal to the High Court against the
    judgment and order of the Court (First Additional District Judge) which
    was deemed to be a decree and the said remedy had already been availed
    of by the writ petitioner by filing an appeal which had been dismissed,
D   and the result whereof was that the judgment and order of the Court
    attained finality between the parties. 187-8-DI

        Shankar Ramchandra Abhyankar v. Krishnaji Dattatreya Bapat, 11969(
    2 sec 74, relied on.

E          2.3. Even otherwise, the view taken by the Division Bench of the High
    Court for repelling the objection of the appellant regarding the
    maintainability of the writ petition that an alternative remedy does not
    divest the High Court of its powers to entertain petitions under Articles
    226 and 227 of the Constitution, h31s hardly any application on the facts
    of the present case. When a right or liability is created by a statute, which
F   itself prescribes the remedy or procedure for enforcing the right or
    liability, resort must be had to tha1t particular statutory remedy before
    seeking the discretionary remedy under Article 226 of the Constitution.
    This rule of exhaustion of statutory remedies is no doubt a rule of policy,
    convenience and discretion and the Court may in exceptional cases issue
G   a discretionary writ of certiorari. Where there is complete lack of
    jurisdiction for the officer or authority or Tribunal to take the action or
    there has been a contravention of fundamental rights or there has been a
    violation of rules of natural justice or where the Tribunal acted under
    provision of law, which is ultra vires, then notwithstanding the existence
    of an alternative remedy, High Court can exercise its jurisdiction to grant
H   relief. (88-D-G I
    SETH CHAND RAT AN v.PANDIT DURGA PRASAD (D) BY LRS. (G.P. MATHUR, J.] 79

        2.4. In the present case, the alternative remedy of challenging the        A
 judgment of the Court was not before some other forum or Tribunal. On
 the contrary, by virtue of Section 27(3) of the Act, the order passed by
 the Court amounted to a decree against which an appeal lay to the High
 Court. When the party had statutory re_medy of assailing the order passed
 by the District Court by filing an appeal to the High Court Itself, he could      B
 not bypass the said remedy and take recourse to proceedings under
 A'rticles 226 and 227 of the Constitution. Such ft course of action may
 enable a litigant to defeat the provisions of the Statute which may provide
 for certain conditions for filing the appeal, like limitation, payment of court
 fee or deposit of some amount or fulfillment of some other conditions for
 entertaining the appeal. (88-G-H; 89-A)                                           C
        3. In view of Section 8 of the Act, a person feeling aggrieved by any
 finding of the Registrar recorded under Section 6 of the Act, can institute
 a civil suit within six months of publication of notice under Section 7(1)
 of the Act to have such finding set aside or modi~ed. Since the Registrar         D
 had passed an order on 31.12.1956 for recording Shri Madan Mohan
 Mandir as a private trust, there was no occasion for him to file a civil
 suit to establish his right. Having regard to the peculiar facts of the present
 _case, it is in the interest of justice that an opportunity be given to the
 contesting respondents to establish their right by instituting a civil suit
 under Section 8 of the Act. It is open to them to file the suit within three      E
 months. (89-C, DJ

       CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 5565of1995.

      From the Judgment and Order dated 7.3.1995 of the Madhya Pradesh
 High Court in L.P.A. No. 86 of 1994.                                              p
       V.A. Mohta, Subrat Birla and Niraj Sharma for the Appellant.

      D. Rama Krishna Reddy, Ms. D. Bharathi Reddy, Chandrasekhar Reddy,
 Praveen Kumar and R.C. Gubrele for the Respondents.

       The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
                                                                                   G

        G.P. MATHUR, J. This appeal by special leave has been preferred
  against the judgment and order dated 7.3.1995 of a Division Bench of High
· Court of Madhya Pradesh by which the letters patent appeal preferred by the
  appellant was dismissed and the judgment and order dated 2.9.1994 of the         H
    80                    SUPREME COURT REPORTS                    [2003) 3 S.C.R.

A   learned Single Judge by whichthe writ petition filed by Pandit Durga Prasad,
    the predecessor-in-int,erest of respondent nos. I (a) to (e) had been allowed
    was affirmed.

           There is a temple known as Shri Madan Mohan Mandir in Jawahar
    Nagar, Harda in the District of Hoshangabad. There are some shops in the
B   precincts of the temple which have been let out to different tenants. According
    to the appellant, the temple and the shops are owned and managed by a
    public trust known as Maheshwari Panchayati Mandir. While according to
    Pandit Durga Prasad, the predecessor-in-interest of respondent nos. I (a) to

C
    (e), the temple and the shops are property of his family and they do not
    belong to any public trust.                                                        •
           Pandit Kamta Prasad (brother of Pandit Durga Prasad) moved an
    application on 29.8.1953 under Section 4 of the M.P. Public Trusts Act, 1951
    (hereinafter referred to as "the Act") for registration of Shri Madan Mohan
    Temple Trust and the application was registered as Case No.73. In this
D   application it was alle:ged that a public trust was established by His Holiness
    Param Vaishnav Raghu Nath Ji Vyas and he himself along with his two
    brothers, namely, Pandit Durga Prasad and Pandit Narayan Prasad were the
    trustees thereof.Another application was moved by Seth Champalal
    Sheonarayanji Rathi, Seth Laxminarayanji Rathi and some others on 30.8.1953        r
    before the Registrar for registration of a trust known as Maheshwari Panchayati
E   Mandir, Harda and this application was registered as case No.206. Seth
    Champalal Sheonarayanj i Rathi was the father of the appellant Seth Chand
    Ratan. Seth Chand Ratan moved an application on 7.2.1955 for amalgamation
    of application nos. 73 and 206. It appears tlhat the Registrar held some inquiry
    in the application moved by Pandit Kamta Prasad. Subsequently, Pandit Kamta
F   Prasad moved an application on 20.1.1955 for withdrawal of the application
    moved by him earlier for registration of the Trust. In this application, it was
    stated that the temple had been constructed by the forefathers of the applicant
    and no ooperty or land, etc. had been giv,en by anyone and it was the family
    of the applicant which was maintaining and managing the temple with their
    own money and consequently it was not a public trust. It was further stated
G   that the application for registration of the trust had been given under some
    misconception about the provisions of the Act as it was thought that all
    temples had got to be registered. The Reg;istrar by his order dated 19. 7.1955
    allowed this application for withdrawal of case no. 73, which had been
    registered on the application moved by Pandit Kamta Prasad. However, before
H   the said order was passed, the application moved by Seth Champalal
        SETH CHAND RAT AN v.PANDIT DURGA PRASAD (D) BY LRS. [G.P. MATHUR. J.] 8 J

·-   Sheonarayanji Rathi which had been registered as case no.206. had been          A
     allowed on 7.2.1955 and Maheshwari Panchayati Mandir had been registered
     as a public trust and Shri Madan Mohan Mandir and some other property
     including the shops in precincts thereof were shown to be the property of the
     aforesaid trust. Pandit Kamta Prasad thereafter moved an application for
     correction of records and vide order dated 31.12.1956 the Registrar directed    B
     that Shri Madan Mohan Mandir be recorded as private trust of Pandit Kamta
     Prasad.

            Nearly 20 years thereafter, the appellant Seth Chand Ratan moved an
     application before the Registrar under Section 22 read with Sections 14 and
     26 of the Act for issuing appropriate directions for proper management of the C
     trust property. In this application Pandit Durga Prasad and some tenants of
     the shops were impleaded as opposite parties. Pandit Durga Prasad opposed
     the prayer made in the application on the grounds, inter alia, that Shri Madan
     Mohan Mandir and the properties in the precincts thereof were not properties
     of a public trust but were his private properties. The Registrar after hearing
     the parties passed an order on 13.12.1983 holding that the order passed in D
     case no.206 directing registration of the trust as a public trust being of a
     binding nature, the validity of order dated 31.12.1956 has to be adjudicated
     upon by a Court under Section 26(1) (c) of the Act at the instance of Pandit
     Durga Prasad within 15 days from the date of the order and in case of his
     failure to do so, he shall make an application to the Court under Section E
     26(2) of the Act. Since Pandit Durga Prasad did not move an application to
     the Court, the Re3istrar himself made a reference to the Court under Section
     26(2) of the Act, which was registered as Misc. Case No.2of1984. The First
     Additional District Judge, Hoshangabad, after hearing the parties decided the
     reference by his order dated 28.3.1985 and held thatthe order dated 31.12.1956
     of the Registrar was not in accordance with Jaw and was not binding.He F
     accordingly directed that the trustees and managers of Maheshwari Panchayati
     Mandir, Harda, shall be handed over the management of Shri Madan Mohan
     Mandir and the tenants in the shops of the temple shall pay rent to them.It
     was further directed that the Registrar shall make inquiries from time to time
     and see that proper accounts of the income arising out of the temple are kept G
     and the same is used for the purpose shown in the trust.

           Pandit Durga Prasad then filed a writ petition under Articles 226 and
     227 of the Constitution for quashing the order dated 13.12.1983 of the Registrar
     and the order dated 28.3.1985 passed by the First Additional District Judge,
     Hoshangabad in Misc. Case No.2 of 1984. Pandit Durga Prasad also filed H
    82                    SUPREME COURT REPORTS                  [2003] 3 S.C.R.

A Misc. First Appeal No.384 of 1987 under Section 27(3) of the Act before the
    High Court of Madhya Pradesh challenging the same judgment and order
    dated 28.3.1985 of First Additional District Judge, Hoshangabad in Misc.
    Case no.2 of 1984. Tlhe appeal was filed long after the expiry of period of
    limitation and ac,ordingly an application 1~nder Section 5 of the Limitation
B   Act for condonation of delay was tiled. lrhis application was rejected and
    consequently the appeal was also dismissed by the High Court on
    26.11.1988.The writ petition filed by Pandit Durga Prasad was. however,
    allowed by a learned Single Judge by the judgment and order dated 2.9.1994
    and the order dated 13.12.1983 of the Registrar and also the order dated
    28.3 .1985 passed by the First Additional District Judge, Hoshangabad were
C   quashed. Seth Chand Ratan thereafter filed a letters patent appeal against the
    aforesaid decision of the learned Single Judge, but the same was dismissed
    by the impugned judgment and order dated 7.3.1995.

         Learned counsel for the appellant has submitted that the Registrar having
  registered Maheshwari Panchayati Mandir as a public trust by the order dated
D 7.2.1955 and the said order having becami: final and conclusive in view of
  sub-section (2) of Section 7 of the Act, the only remedy available to Pandit       ...
  Kamta Prasad was to file a civil suit' under Section 8 of the Act. However,
  instead of pursuing the aforesaid remedy, he moved an application for
  correction of record, which was allowed lby the Registrar on 31.12.1956.
E Learned counsel has submitted that the Registrar had absolutely no jurisdiction
  to entertain the aforesaid application and consequently the order passed by
  him on 31.12.1956 directing correction of record is wholly illegal and without
  jurisdiction and is a nullity in the eyes of law. Learned counsel has further
  urged that the temple and the shops in the precincts thereof were properties
  of Maheshwari Panchayati Mandir, which was a public trust and, therefore,
F the application moved by the appellant, Setlh Chand Ratan under Section 22
  read with Section 26 of the Act was fully maintainable and the Registrar had
  rightly passed an order on 31.12.1983 directing Pandit Durga Prasad to seek
  appropriate directions from the Court and on his failure to do so, he rightly
  referred the matter to the Court . .The First Additional District Judge,
G Hoshangabad, it is urged, was fully competent to enter upon the reference
  and the order passed by him to the effect that the order dated 31.12.1956 of
  the Registrar was not in accordance with the provisions of the Act and was
  not binding and that the: management of Shri Madan Mohan Mandir and the
  shops in precincts thereof shall be handed over to the trustees and manager
  of Maheshwari Panchayati Mandir is perfectly correct. Learned counsel has
H further submitted that the order passed by the First Additional District Judge
   SETH CHAND RAT AN r.PANDIT DURGA PRASAD (D) BY LRS. (G.P. MATHUR. J.]    83
is deemed to be a decree of the Court under Sub-section (3) of Section 27         A
of the Act against which an appeal lies to the High Court. The appeal preferred
by Durga Prasad having been dismissed by the High Court on 26.11.1988,
the order passed by the First Additional District Judge became final and
binding between the parties and it was not at all open to the High Court to
quash the very same order in a writ petition under Article 226/227 of the         B
Constitution. It has thus been submitted that the impugned orders dated
2.9.1994 of the leaned Single Judge and also the order dated 7.3.1995 of the
Division Bench in letters patent appeal are wholly illegal and deserve to be
set aside.

       Learned counsel for the contesting respondents (legal representatives of   C
Pandit Durga Prasad) has submitted that Pandit Kamta Prasad had moved the
application for registration of Shri Madan Mohan Mandir as a public trust
under a mistake of law as M.P. Public Trusts Act 1951 had come into force
in the year 1951 and .he acted under a misconception that every temple has
got to be registered under the said Act. It was under these circumstances that
he moved an application for withdrawal of case no.73 which was allowed by         D
the Registrar on 19.7.1955. Learned counsel has further submitted that the
order passed by the Registrar on 7.2.1955 for registration of Maheshwari
Panchayati Mandir as a public trust was illegal as Seth Champalal
Sheonarayanji Rathi had also moved an application for amalgamation of case
no. 73 and case no.206 and the aforesaid order was in fact an ex-parte order      E
against Pandit Kam ta Prasad. When he came to know of the aforesaid order,
he applied for correction of records which was allowed by the Registrar vide
order dated 31.12.1956 and Shri Madan Mohan Mandir was recorded as a
private trust of the family of Pandit Kamta Prasad. Since the Registrar had
committed a mistake while passing the order dated 7.2.1955 by which
Maheshwari Panchayati Mandir was registered as a public trust, the said           F
mistake was rightly corrected by him. The further argument of the learned
counsel is that the order passed by the Registrar on 31.12.1983 by which he
made a reference to the Court was illegal inasmuch as such a direction could
only be issued in the case of a public trust but as the temple and the shops
were not the property of a public trust, no such reference could be made and      G
the order passed by the First Additional District Judge is also illegal and the
same was rightly quashed in the writ petition preferred· by Pandit Durga
Prasad.

      Before examining the contentions raised by the learned counsel for the
parties, it will be convenient to take note offew provisions of the Act. Section H
     84                      SUPREME COURT REPORTS                     [2003] 3 S.C.R.

A 2(4) defines "public trust" and it means an express or constructive trust for
       a public, religious or charitable purpose and includes a temple. a math, a
       mosque, a church, a wakf or any other religious or charitable endowment and
       a society formed for a religious or charitable purpose. Section 3 provides that
       the Collector shall be the' Registrar of Public Trusts and he shall maintain the
  B register of public trusts and such other books and registers and in such form
       as may be prescribed. Section 4 provides that within three months from the
       date of coming into force of the Section, the working trustees of every public
       trust shall apply to the Registrar having jurisdiction for the registration of the
       public trust. Sub-section (3) of Section 4 lays. down that the application shall
       be in such form as may be prescribed and shall contain the particulars
•C enumerated in this sub-section. Sub-section (5) of Section 4, provides an
       appeal against the decision made by the Registrar regarding registration of a
       public trust and it also lays down that the order of the appellate authority
       shall be final. Section 5 enjoins the Registrar to make inquiry in the prescribed
       manner for the purposes of ascertaining wh,~ther the trust is a public trust;
 D whether any property is the property of the trust; the names and addresses of
       the trustees and managers and the mode of succession to the office of the
       trustee of such trust; lhe amount of gross average annual income and
       expenditure, etc. Section 6 lays down that on completion of the inquiry
       provided for under Section 5, the Registrar shall record his findings with
       reasons therefor as to the matters mentioned in the said Section. Section 8
IE lays down that any working trustee or person having interest in a public trust
       or any property found to be trust property. feeling aggrieved by any finding
       of the Registrar under Section 6 may, within six months from the date of the
       publication of the notice under sub-section (I) of Section 7, institute a suit
       in a civil court to have such finding set aside or modified. Section 26 lays
 IF down that if the Registrar is satisfied on the application of any person interested
       in the public trust or otherwise that the original object of the trust has failed:
       or the trust property is not being properly managed or administered; or the
       direction of the Court is necessary for the administration of the public trust,
       he may after giving th<: working trustee an opportunity to be heard, direct
  ,.., such  trustee to apply to Court for directions within a specified time. Where
  J    the trustee so directed fails to make an application as required and the Registrar
       considers it expedient to do so, he shall himself make an application to the
       Court. Sub-section (I) of Section 27 lays down that on receipt of such
       application, the Court shall make or cause to be made such inquiry into the
       case as it deems tit and pass such order thereon as it may consider appropriate.
   -I The powers which can be exercised by the Court have been enumerated in
    SETH CHAND RAT AN v.PANDIT DURGA PRASAD (D) BY LRS. lG.P. MA THUR, J.] 85

Sub-section (2) of this Section. Sub-section (3) of Section 27 is important        A
and it lays down that any order passed by the Court under Sub-section (2)
shall be deemed to b~ a decree of such Court and an appeal shall lie therefrom
to the High Court. Sub-section (4) provides that no suit relating to public
trust under Section 92 of the Code of Civil Procedure shall be entertained by
any Court on any matter in respect of which an application can be made             B
under Section 26.

       The reason which weighed with the learned Single Judge for allowing
the writ petition was that in case no.73, which was initiated by Pandit Kamta
Prasad, a detailed inquiry was made by SDO, Harda and after recording
statement of some witnesses he had come to the conclusion that Shri Madan          C
Mohan Mandir and the shops in the precincts thereof were the personal
property of Pandit Kamta Prasad not that of Maheshwari Panchayati Samaj.
The order passed by the Registrar on 7.2.1955 in case no.206 directing that
the aforesaid property belonged to and was being managed by a public trust,
namely, Maheshwari Panchayati Samaj had been passed on account of a
clerical mistake. Thus, it was held that there was no occasion for the Registrar   D
to make a reference to the Court under Section 26 of the Act and consequently
the order dated 31.12.1983 making the reference and the order passed by the
Court (First Additional District Judge) on 28.3.1985 were illegal. The Division
Bench has also concurred with the aforesaid reasoning of the learned Single
Judge.                                                                             E
       In our opinion, the view taken by the High Court is not supported by
the provisions of the Act. Pandit Kamta Prasad had himself moved an
application under Section 4 of the Act on 29.8.1953 for registration of Shri
Madan Mohan Mandir as a public trust and this application was registered as
Case No.73. However, subsequently hemoved an application on 20.1. I 955            p
for withdrawal of the aforesaid application.This application was opposed by
Seth Champalal Sheonarayanji Rathi (father of the appellant) by filing a
detailed objection on 6.4.1955. The Registrar by his order dated 19.7.1955
allowed the application for withdrawal moved by Pandit Kamta Prasad and
it was mentioned in the order that this was being permitted at his own risk.
The proceedings initiated by Pandit Kamta Prasad having been withdFawn,            G
the result was that no final order, one way or the other, was passed in case
no.73 and, therefore, any report submitted by the SDO in the said case could
not form the basis for holding that the order passed in case no.206 initiated
on the application of Maheshwari Panchayati Samaj had been passed on
account of any clerical mistake. The scheme of the Act shows that after            H
    86                   SUPREME COURT REPORTS                  (2003) 3 S.C.R.

A holding an inquiry, as provided under Section 5, the Registrar has to record
  his findings with reasons therefor andSection 7 enjoins making of entries in
  the register in accordance with the findings recorded under Section 6. Sub-
  section (2) of Section 7 lays down that the entries so made shall, subject to
  the provisions of the Act, be final and conclusive. Section 8 confers a right
  upon a person who is aggrievedby any finding of the Registrar recorded
B under Section 6 to institute a suit in a Civil Court within six months to have
  such finding set aside or modified. In view of these provisions. the order
  passed by the Registrar in case no.206, by which it was held that Maheshwari
  Panchayati Mandir is a public trust and Shri Madan Mohan l\1andir and the
  shops in the precincts thereof were the property of the trust and were being
C managed by it, became final and conclusive. The only remedy available to
  Pandit Kamta Prasad was to institute a civil suit under Section 8 of the Act
  for setting aside the said finding. In these circumstances, it was not open to
  the Registrar to entertain a correction application and to record that Shri
   Madan Mohan Mandir is a private trust of Pandit Kamta Prasad which he did
   by his order dated 31.12.1956. The High Court was, therefore, wrong in
D holding that the order dated 7.2.1955 in case no.206 was passed on account
  of clerical mistake.

         There is another ground on which the order passed by the High Court
  cannot be sustained. As mentioned earlier. the Registrar made a reference to
E the Court on 31.12.1983 under Section 26(2) of the Act, which was registered
  as Misc. Case No.2 of 1984. The First Additional District Judge, Hoshangabad
  d•!cided the said reference by the judgment and order dated 28.3.1985 and
  held that the order passed by the Registrar on 31.12.1956 is not in accordance
  with law and is not binding upon him. He further issued directions that the
  trustees and managers of Maheshwari Panchayati Mandir, Harda shall be
F handed over the management of Shri Madan Mohan Mandir and the tenants
  shall pay rent to them. This order, which is d1~emed to be a decree under Sub-
  section (3} of Section 27 of the Act was challenged by Pandit Durga Prasad
  by tiling Misc. First Appeal No.384 of 1987 before the High Court but the
   same was dismissed by the order dated 26.11.1988. In this appeal, Seth
  Chand Ratan and the Registrar of Public Trust were arrayed as respondent
G nos. I and 2 and the nine tenants of the property were arrayed as respondent
   nos.3 to 11. The result of the dismissal of the appeal was that as betwten the
   parties the order passed by the First Additional District Judge, Hoshangabad
   in Misc. Case N.J.2 of 1984 became final. It is noteworthy that the writ
   petition has been decided on 2.9.1994 long time after the dismissal of the
H first appeal. The learned Single Judge did not at all advert to the fact that
   SETH CHAND RAT AN v. PANDIT DURGA PRASAD (D) BY LRS. [G.P. MA THUR, J.] 87

against the judgment and decree dated 28.3.1985 of the First Additional A
District Judge, Hoshangabad, an appeal had been preferred in the High Court
by Pandit Durga Prasad and the same had been dismissed on 26.11.1988. It
was argued on behalf of the appellant in the letters patent appeal that in view
of the statutory provision of the appeal, the writ petition ought not to have
been entertained. The Division Bench brushed aside the argument by merely B
observing that existence of an alternative remedy does not divest the High
Court of its jurisdiction to entertain a petition under Articles 226 and 227 of
the Constitution. In our opiniort, the Division Bench failed to notice that the
Statute itself provided a regular appeal to the High Court against the judgment
and order of the Court (First Additional District Judge) which was deemed
to be a decree artd the said remedy had already been availed of by the writ C
petitioner by filing an appeal which had been dismissed, and the result whereof
was that the judgment and order of the Court attained finality between the
parties. In almost similar circumstances in Shankar Ramchandra Abhyankar
v. Krishnaji Dattatreya Bapat, [ 1969) 2 SCC 74, this Court had examined the
pr0priety of the High Court in entertaining a writ petition. In this case, a suit D
for eviction had been filed by a landlord which was decreed by the trial court
and the decree had been confirmed in appeal by the District Judge. Thereafter,
the tenant preferred a revision before the High Court which was dismissed by
a learned Single Judge. The tenant then filed a writ petition under Articles
226 and 227 of the Constitution challenging the same order of the Appellate
Court (District Judge), which was allowed by the Division Bench of the High E
Court. In appeal this Court set aside the judgment of the Division Bench of
the High Court with the following observations :

       " .......... .In Chandi Prasad Chokhani v. The State of Bihar, [1962) 2
       SCR 276, it was said that save in exceptional and special circumstances
       this court would not exercise its power under Article 136 in such a F
       way as to bypass the High Court and ignore the latter's decision
       which had become final and binding by entertaining an appeal directly
       from orders of a Tribunal. Such exercise of power would be
       particularly inadvisable in a case where the result might lead to a
       conflict of decisions of two courts of competent jurisdiction. In our G
       opinion the course which was followed by the High Court, in the
       present case, is certainly. one which leads to a conflict of decisions of
       the same court.

       Even on the assumption that the order of the appellate court had not
       merged in the order of the single Judge who had disposed of the H
    88                     SUPREME COURT REPORTS                    [2003] 3 S.C.R.

A           revision petition we are of the view that a writ petition ought not to
            have been entertained by the High Court when the respondent had
            already chosen the remedy under Section 115 of the Code of Civil
            Procedure. If there are two modes of invoking the jurisdiction of the
            High Court and one of those modes has been chosen and exhausted
            it would not be a proper and sound exercise of discretion to grant
B           relief in the other set of proceedings in respect of the same order of
            the subordinate court. The refusal to grant relief in such circumstances
            would be in consonance with the anxiety of the court to prevent
            abuse of process as also to respect and accord finality to its own
            decisions.
c         This being the legal position, the writ petition filed by Pandit Durga
    Prasad was not maintainable and the High Court committed manife3t error of
    law in entertaining and allowing the same.

           Even otherwise, the view taken by the Division Bench of the High
D   Court for repelling the objection of the appellant regarding the maintainability
    of the writ petition that an alternative remedy does not divest the High Court
    of its powers to entertain petitions under Article 226 and 22 7 of the
    Constitution, has hardly any application on the facts of the present case.It has
    been settled by a long catena of decisions that when a right or liability is
E   created by a statute, which itself pres<eribes the remedy or procedure for
    enforcing the right or liability, resort must be had to that particular statutory
    remedy before seeking the discretionary remedy under Article 226 of the
    Constitution. This rule of exhaustion of statutory remedies is no doubt a rule
    of policy, convenience and discretion and the Court may in exceptional cases
    issue a discretionary writ of certioran. Where there is complete lack of
F   jurisdiction for the officer or authority cir Tribunal to take the action or there
    has been a contravention of fundamental rights or there has been a violation
    of rules of natural justice or where the Tribunal acted under a provision of
    law, which is ultra vires, then notwithstanding the existence of an alternative
    remedy, the High court can exercise its jurisdiction to grant relief. In the
G   present case, the alternative remedy of challenging the judgment of the Court
    was not before some other forum or Tribunal. On the contrary, by virtue of
    Sub-section (3) of Section 27 of the Act, the order passed by the Court
    amounted to a decree against which an appeal lay to the High Court. When
    the party had statutory remedy of assailing the order passed by the District
    Court by filing an appeal to the High Court itself, he could not bypass the
H   said remedy and talke recourse to proceedings under Articles 226 and 227 of
   SETH CHAND RAT AN v.PANDIT DUR GA PRASAD (D) BY LRS. [G.P. MATHUR, J.]    89

the Constitution. Such a course of action may enable a litigant to defeat the      A
provisions of the Statute which may provide for certain conditions for filing
the appeal, like limitation, payment ofcourt fee or deposit of some amount or
fulfilment of some othre conditions for entertaining the appeal.

      For the reasons stated, we are clearly of the opinion that the High Court
committed manifest error of law in entertaining and allowing the writ petition     B
filed by Pandit Durga Prasad ancl, therefore, orders passed by the learned
Single Judge on 2.9.1994 and by the Division Bench in letters patent appeal
on 7.3 .1995 are liable to be set aside.

       In view of Section 8 of the Act, a person feeling aggrieved by any C
finding of the Registrar recorded under Section 6 of the Act, can institute a
civil suit within six months of publication of notice under Sub-section (1) of
Section 7 of the Act to have such finding set aside. or modified. Since the
Registrar had passed an order on 3 I .12.1956 for recording Shri Madan Mohan
Mandir as a private trust of Pandit Kamta Prasad, there was no occasion for
him to file a civil suit to establish his right. Having regard to the peculiar D
facts of the present case, we consider it in the interest of justice that an
opportunity be given to the contesting respondents to establish their right by
instituting a civil suit, which they may do 'within three months from today.

       The appeal is accordingly allowed and the judgment and orders dated
2.9.1994 of the learned Single Judge and that of the Division Bench dated          E
7.3.1995 are. set aside. It will, however, be open to the contesting respondents
to file a suit in the Civil Court in accordance with Section 8 of the Act within
three months from today. The appellants will be entitled to their costs.

K.K.T.                                                        Appeal allowed.      p