Indian Kanoon - Search engine for Indian Law

In L.N. Banaji v. Bapuji Ruttonji 11 B. 441, Mr. Justice Jardine held that trusts for the purposes of performing the following ceremonies were not valid charitable trusts. The ceremonies were:

Baj Rojgar, Consecration of Nirungdin, Recitation of the Yejushni, Annual Ghambars and Dosla ceremonies. The only witness called in the suit on this part of the case was Mr. Hormusji Chichgur, a solicitor of this Court.

40. Now Mr. Hormusji Chichgur was a layman and never pretended to be a Pehlvi, Zend or Avesta scholar, and his evidence is of the most formal description, mostly directed to explain what the Navjote (Investiture of Sacred Thread) ceremony was. He, however, had the courage to tell the Court that the decision in Limji Nowroji Banaji v. Bapuji Ruttonji Limbuwalla 11 B. 441 "caused a great shock." Mr. Justice Candy had no better materials placed before him than was before Mr. Justice Jardine and he merely followed that learned Judge's decision.

93. An officiating priest must go through the Nahan and Martab ceremonies. No layman is allowed to go through these ceremonies--the man going through these ceremonies must be a member of the priestly class.

94. Ervad Sheriarji says:

From the most ancient time--from the time of Herodotus, the priests as a separate class have existed amongst the Zoroastrians. They were called the Magi, and in the performance of religious ceremonies the presence of a Magus was always necessary. There is historical evidence of this in existence. Herodotus wrote about the customs prevailing' amongst the Zoroastrians in his own times, which was 400 15. 0." Seo Rawlinson's Herodotus, Vol. I, pages 21.7 and 218.

95. Dastur Darab, in the course of evidence, said that with the exception of Baj and Yejushni a layman may perform the other ceremonies if he is very poor. He said, if a man can afford it he must employ a priest, because a priest is supposed to be more pious and is more conversant with the ceremonies. This led to a little misunderstanding, which was cleared up when Dastur Darab explained that what he meant was that it is a duty cast upon every Zoroastrian to get these or some of these ceremonies performed by the priests during the Muktad days, and that the non-performance of them was a great sin. Where a Zoroastrian is so situated that no priest is available or where he is so poor that he cannot afford to employ a priest, rather than not have them performed he ought, in the opinion of the witness, to try and perform them himself. He admitted that he had never known a layman perform these ceremonies. Whatever may be Dastur Darab's opinion on this point, the fact remains that from the most ancient, times the Magi in the olden times and the Mobeds or priests in the more recent times, have always performed these ceremonies, and the scriptures of the Zoroastrians contemplate that they shall be performed by the priests, For instance, the very Debache of the Afringan shows that that ceremony is performed by the priest, for at the very outset, the priest says: I have performed the offering. I have offered the Daruns. I now offer the Mayazd."

96. No layman could say: I have performed the offering and I have offered the Daruns."

97. It has been the universal practice existing amongst the Zoroastrians for centuries that all the Muktad ceremonies should be performed by the priests and to this there never has been known a single exception.

98. The priests, as a rule, are wholly dependent for their livelihood and for the maintenance of themselves and their families on the fees they get from their lay brethren for the performance of their religious ceremonies. The Farvardigan days being continuous--the Muktad ceremonies being regarded as the most sacred--and this period being the most holy amongst the Zoroastrians, the priests during these days make a far larger income than they do at any other period during the year. The fees received during the Muktad days are one of the principal sources of a priest's income during the year. The observance of the Muktad holidays helps very considerably towards the maintenance of the priestly class.