Section 41 in Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959
41. Resumption and re-grant of inam granted for performance of any charity or service.
(1)Any exchange, gift, sale or mortgage and any lease for a term exceeding five years of the whole or any portion of any inam granted for the support or maintenance of a religious institution or for the performance of charity or service connected therewith or of any other religious charity and made, confirmed or recognised by the Government shall be null and void:Provided that any transaction of the nature aforesaid (not being a gift) may be sanctioned by the Government as being necessary or beneficial to the institution.Explanation. - Nothing contained in this sub-section shall affect or derogate from the rights and obligations of the landholder and tenant in respect of any land which is ryoti land as defined in the [Tamil Nadu] [Substituted for the word 'Madras' by the Tamil Nadu Adaptation of Laws Order, 1969, as amended by the Tamil Nadu Adaptation of Law s (Second Amendment) Order, 1969.] Estates Land Act, 1908 ([Tamil Nadu] [Substituted for the word 'Madras' by the Tamil Nadu Adaptation of Laws Order, 1969, as amended by the Tamil Nadu Adaptation of Law s (Second Amendment) Order, 1969.] Act I of 1908).(2)(a)The Collector may, on his own motion, or on the application of the trustee of the religious institution or of the Commissioner or of any person having interest in the institution who has obtained the consent of such trustee or the Commissioner, by order, resume the whole or any part of any such inam, on one or more of the following grounds, namely:-(i)that except in the case referred to in the proviso to sub-section (1), the holder of such inam or part or the trustee of the institution has made an exchange, gift, sale or mortgage of such inam or part or any portion thereof or has granted a lease of the same or any portion thereof for a term exceeding five years, or(ii)that the religious institution has ceased to exist or the charity or service in question has in any way become impossible of performance, or(iii)that the holder of such inam or part has failed to perform or make the necessary arrangements for performing, in accordance with the custom or usage of the institution, the charity or service for performing which the inam had been made, confirmed or recognized as aforesaid, or any part of the said charity or service, as the case may be.When passing an order under this clause, the Collector shall determine whether such inam or the inam comprising such part, as the case may be, is a grant of both the melvaram and the kudivaram or only of the melvaram:Provided that, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, the Collector shall presume that any minor inam is a grant of both the melvaram and the kudivaram.(b)Before passing an order under clause (a), the Collector shall give notice to the trustee, to the Commissioner, to the inamdar concerned, to the person in possession of the inam where he is not the inamdar and to the alienee, if any of the inam; the Collector shall also publish a copy of such notice in such manner as may be prescribed and such publication shall be deemed to be sufficient notice to every other person likely to be affected by such order; and the Collector shall hear the objections, if any, of the persons to whom such notice is given or deemed to be given and hold such inquiry as may be prescribed.Explanation. - Where only a part of the inam is affected, notice shall be given under this clause to the holder of such part as well as to the holder or holders of the other part or parts, to the person in possession of every such part where he is not the holder thereof, and to the alienee, if any, of every such part; and the objections of all such persons shall be heard by the Collector.(c)A copy of every order passed under clause (a) shall be communicated to each of the persons mentioned in clause (b), and shall also be published in the manner prescribed.(d)(i)Any party aggrieved by an order of the Collector under clause (a) may appeal to the District Collector within such time as may be prescribed, and on such appeal, the District Collector may, after giving notice to the Commissioner and each of the persons mentioned in clause (b) and after holding such inquiry as may be prescribed, pass an order confirming, modifying or cancelling the order of the Collector.(ii)The order of the District Collector on such appeal, or the order of the Collector under clause (a) where no appeal is preferred under sub-clause (i) to the District Collector within the time prescribed shall be final:Provided that where there has been an appeal under sub-clause (i) and it has been decided by the District Collector or where there has been no appeal to the District Collector and the time for preferring an appeal has expired, any party aggrieved by the final order of the District Collector or the Collector, as the case may be, may file a suit in a Civil Court for determining whether the inam comprises both the melvaram and the kudivaram or only the melvaram. Such a suit shall be instituted within six months from the date of the order of the District Collector on appeal where there has been an appeal under sub-clause (i), or from the date of the expiry of the period prescribed under sub-clause (i) for an appeal to the District Collector where there has been no such appeal.(e)Except as otherwise provided in clause (d), an order of resumption passed under this section shall not be liable to be questioned in any Court of Law.(f)Where any inam or part of any inam is resumed under this section, the Collector or the District Collector, as the case may be, shall by order, re-grant such inam or part-(i)as an endowment to the religious institution concerned, or(ii)in case of resumption on the ground that the religious institution has ceased to exist or that the charity or service in question has in any way become impossible of performance, as an endowment for such religious, educational or charitable institution as the Commissioner may recommend.(g)The order of re-grant made under clause (f) shall, on application made to the Collector within the time prescribed, be executed by him in the manner prescribed.(h)Nothing in this section shall affect the operation of section 40.
