Object and Reason.- (1) In 1949, the Government of India appointed a Committee, under the Chairmanship of Mr. Justice Ghulam Hassan, the then Judge of the Allahahad High Court, to report on the affairs of the Durgah Khawaja Saheb, Ajmer, and to make recommendations for its efficient management in the interests of the devotees. The present Bill seeks to implement the decisions of Government on the recommendations of the Committee. The principal provisions are as follows :(i) The administration, control and management of the Durgah are to vest in a High Power Committee consisting of representative Muslims to be appointed by the Central Government.(ii) A paid Nazim is to be appointed a Member Secretaty of the Committee ahd to administer the Durgah.(iii) An Advisory Committee is to be set up to advice the Nazim in the discharge of his functions.(iv) The remuneration of the Sajjadanashin and the manner of determining succession to that office are laid down.(v) The soliciting or receiving of offerings on behalf of the Durgah is to be prohibited except through the Nazim or a person authorised by him.(vi) A Board of Arbitrtition is to be set up to settle disputes not relating to any religious usage or custom or to the performance of any religious office. - S.R.O., Gazette of India, 22-11-52, Pt. II, Section 2, Ext., p. 564.Act 20 of 1964.- (1) The Durgah Khawaja Saheb Act, 1955, was enacted to provide inter alia for proper control and efficient management of the Durgah Endowments as defined in the Act.2. A large number of pilgrims who come to offer prayers at the Durgah Khawaja Saheb, Ajmer, make offerings of nazars in the form of cash or in kind, which are meant for the Durgah Khawaja Saheb and form part of the Durgah Endowment. The Act expressly provides in sections 2(d) (v) and 14 that only the Nazim or a person authorised by him is entitled to receive on behalf of the Durgah narars and offerings given by the pilgrims. In contravention of these express provisions of the Act some individuals have been collecting the nazars and offerings made at the shrine and have been misappropriating them. In the absence of a specific penal clause in the Act it has not been found possible to take action against them in order to prevent them from doing so. The acceptance of the offerings and nazars which are a source of substantial income to the Durgah by unauthorised persons affects the interests of the shrine. It is, therefore, considered necessary to make a specific provision for penalising persons who solicit or receive nazars and offerings meant for the Durgah in an unauthorised manner. The present Bill seeks to amend the Durgah Khawaja Saheb Act, 1955, by providing for such a penal clause for this purpose. - S.O.R., Gazette of India, 18-11-63, Pt. II, Section 2, Ext., p. 746.[14th October, 1955]An Act to make provision for the proper administration of the Durgah and the Endowment of the Durgah of Khawaja Moin-ud-din Chishti, generally known as Durgah Khawaja Saheb, Ajmer.BE it enacted by Parliament in the Sixth Year of the Republic of India as follows :-
