K.K. Mathew JUDGMENT
K.K. Mathew, J.
1. The appellants, as plaintiffs, filed a suit under Section 92 of the Civil Procedure Code alleging breach of a trust created for a public purpose of a religious nature and praying for removal of the defendant, the head of the Math in question claiming title to the office under a will executed by the predecessor-in-office and for other relief!. The District Court dismissed the suit on the Ground that the suit will not lie under Section 92 of the Civil Procedure Code. The High Court, on appeal, upheld that judgment and, this appeal, by special leave, is directed against that judgment.
2. Adi Shankaracharya founded Maths at four centers in India about a thousand years ago. The math with which we are concerned was established by him in Himalayas. This Math was known by the name of Jyotir Math or Jyotish Peeth. For centuries, the existence of this Math was unknown to the public and even the place where the Math stood had to be found out. In 1940, a society known as Bharat Dharma Maha-Mandal or Kashi made an effort to discover the Math and the effort proved successful. The relics of the Math were found near Badrikashram. The land on which the relics were found along with certain other property on the banks of Varuna in Kashi was acquired by the Society and thereafter the Society created an endowment of the land by a. deed dated April 11, 1941 in favour of Jyotir Math and Swami Brahmanand Saraswati ('Brahrnanand' for short), a man renowned for his piety and vedic learning was installed as the Head of the Math.
3. Brahmanand died on May 20, 1953. Before his death, he executed a will which was published on June 8, 1953. By the will, he nominated a panel of 4 persons in order of choice indicated in the will to succeed him as head of the Math. His first choice was Swami Shantanand Saraswati, respondent No. 1. Respondent No. 1 accepted the office. He was installed as Shankaracharya of the Math on June 12, 1953. Thereafter dispute arose among the worshippers of Jyotir Math. A section of the worshippers installed Swami Krishnabodhashram ('Krishnabodhashram' for short) as the Shankaracharya of the Math on June 25, 1953, as according to them, Brahmanand did not execute any will nominating his successor, and even if he executed a will, it was not executed by him while he was in a sound disposing state of mind and that in accordance with the custom and the rules of the Math, they were entitled to install a person nominated by them as the Head of the Math.
4. Respondent No. 1, who was installed on June 12, 1953, as the Head of the Math, came into possession of the Math properties. The worshippers who supported the claim of Krishnabodhashram filed a suit in January, 1954 in the Munsiff Court at Lucknow for an injunction restraining respondent No. 1 from interfering with the Math properties. In the meanwhile, respondent No. 1 applied for a succession certificate in the Court of District Judge, Allahabad and that was granted on December 12, 1956. Thereafter, four persons alleging themselves to be interested in the Jyotir Math, after obtaining permission of the Advocate General, filed the suit under Section 92 of the Civil Procedure Code against respondent No. 1.
5. The main allegations in the plaint were that Brahmanand did not execute the will while he was in a sound disposing state of mind, that respondent No. 1 had not the requisite learning in Sanskrit and the Vedas and, therefore, he was........