Can property of a religious trust be sold?

980 votes

hen a trust is formed(the person who forms the trust is called the author of the trust or settlor), the trustees are appointed as per the rules of the trust and they are empowered to perform the duties including dealing with trust property only as per the rules of the tust and for furthering the causes of the trust. From the details provided it appears to be a public trust, however, it has to be verified. If it is a public trust, the trustees can deal with the property. However, one has to look into the relevant law under which it is formed e.g. as Alkesh has pointed out that in Maharashtra, the public trusts are governed by the Bombay Public Trusts Act. Under this act, the trustees can sell of the property (if it is provided in the trust deed) but the permission of the Charity Commissioner is necessary without which the sale cannot be comleted and the sale deed would not be registered. The Charity Commissioner may ask for tenders to which any eligible party can bid but the trustees do not have to agree to sell the property to any bidder except those that they are willing to. The Charity commissioner's role is only to ensure that the to objects of the Trust, it get the maximum benefit but he cannot force the trust to sell to any buyer.

Advocate Siddhant Sharma LawRato

886 votes

yes but you need to first obtain permission of charity commissioner.

another thing is that you can not use the amount received from selling this property as it was actually transferred for charitable purpose

So you need to transfer amount to account to trust

Advocate Preeti Sagar LawRato

643 votes

No u can not sell the trust property as if trust agrees with u and and all the members of religious trust can take a decision to sell the trust property than u can sell it. As u need signature of all the members.

Advocate Jharna Jadwani LawRato

98 votes

The Delhi High Court has ruled that trust property cannot legally be mortgaged or sold without prior court approval. This order applies to all trusts, whether public or private. A private trust was established to benefit the beneficiary or a group of people.

Advocate Chikirsha Mohanty LawRato