Section 41(1) in The Orissa Hindu Religious Endowments Act, 1951
(1)In case of a dispute the Assistant Commissioner shall have power to enquire into and decide the following disputes and matters -(a)whether an institution is a public or religious institution;(b)whether an institution is a temple or a math;(c)whether a trustee holds or held office as a hereditary trustee;(d)whether any property or money is of a religious endowment or specific endowment;(e)whether any person is entitled, by custom or otherwise, to any honour, emolument or perquisite in any religious institution and what the established usage of a religious institution is in regard to any other matter;(f)whether any institution or endowment is wholly or partly of a religious or secular character, and whether any property or money has been given wholly or partly for religious or secular uses; and(g)where property or money has been given for the support of an institution or the performance of a charity, which is partly of religious and partly of a secular character or when any property or money given is appropriated partly to religious and partly to secular uses, as to what portion thereof shall be allocated to religious uses :Provided that the burden of proof in all disputes or matters covered by Clauses (a) and (d) shall lie on the person claiming the institution to be private or the property or money to be other than that of a religious endowment or specific endowment, as the case may be.
