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Court, while partially allowing the appeals held that though Trust was the owner of 246 properties, it was amenable to Section 14 of the Madhya Pradesh Public Trust Act, 1951 which simply states that prior permission of the Registrar, Public Trusts would be required in case of sale, etc. of the property belonging to the Public Trust.
A Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Khanwilkar today set aside the directions passed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court to conduct an Economic Offences Wing investigation against the trustees of Khasgi (Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Charities) Trust, Indore.
Two of the trustees are the daughter and son-in-law of Late King Yashwant Rao Holkar who was the great-great-grandson of Devi Ahilyabai Holkar.
The bench, also consisting of Justices Abhay Oka and Pardiwla, while partially allowing the appeals held that, though Trust was the owner of 246 properties, it was amenable to Section 14 of the Madhya Pradesh Public Trust Act, 1951 which simply states that prior permission of the Registrar, Public Trusts would be required in case of sale etc. of the property belonging to the Public Trust.
The Khasgi (Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Charities) Trust, Indore has been embroiled in contentious litigation, since the year 2012, over the ownership of the 246 properties which was held by the Registrar of the Public Trusts. The Registrar asserted that the ownership lies with the State of Madhya Pradesh.
However, the order of the Registrar of Public Trust was set aside by s Single Judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. The State, being aggrieved by the said order, challenged the same before the Division Bench of the High Court. The Division Bench, by its order dated October 5, 2020, held that the ownership of the properties lies with the State of Madhya Pradesh. The Division Bench further directed the Economics Office Wing (EOW) to conduct a detailed investigation into the matter and take appropriate steps regarding the sale and creation of third-party rights of some of the properties. The order passed by the Division Bench of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh was challenged before the Supreme Court of India by the Trust.
The Supreme Court of India also directed the Registrar, Public Trust to hold a fresh inquiry into the sale of the properties sold by the Trust to ascertain if by virtue of alienation made by trustees any loss was caused to the Public Trust and to take necessary action in this regard.
The Khasgi (Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Charities) Trust, Indore was represented by Mukul Rohatgi, Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Amit Desai, Senior Advocates. The senior counsels were assisted by the team from Karanjawala & Co. led by Ruby Singh Ahuja, Senior Partner, Nandini Gore, Senior Partner, Tahira Karanjawala, Principal Associate, Kritika Sachdeva, Senior Associate, Akshay Agarwal, Associate along with Aman Ahluwalia, Abhinav Malhotra and Sidhant Kumar Marwah, Advocates.
Case title: The Khasagi (Devi Ahilya Bhai Holkar Charities Trust), Indore Vs State of Madhya Pradesh
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