The Maharashtra government has introduced a bill to amend the Public Trusts Act, aiming to streamline trust administration, minimise litigation, and improve accountability. The amendments define tenure and perpetual trustees
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and state Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Pic/PTI
The state government on Monday tabled the bill to amend the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act with the aim of standardising trust administration, reducing litigation, and ensuring periodic oversight and accountability among trust board members.
According to the Bill, a new section, 30A, will be inserted for the appointment of tenure trustees and perpetual trustees where the instrument of trusts does not contain any specific provision, as reported by news agency IANS.
The existing definition of “trustee” contained in Section 2(18) of the said Bill was proposed to be amended with the purpose of specifying the types of trustees based upon their period of appointment: Tenure trustees and perpetual trustees therein.
According to the bill, the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act was enacted to regulate and make provisions for the administration of public, religious and charitable trusts in the state.
The bill stated, “It was noticed that in various instruments of trusts there was no clarity about the appointment of perpetual or permanent trustees and their tenure, which led to multiple litigations before the Charity Commissioner and the court. This affected the working of the trusts, the welfare of beneficiaries and the public,” as cited by news agency IANS.
The Bill further mandates that the number of 'perpetual trustees' (those appointed for life) in any public trust cannot exceed 25 per cent of the total strength of the Board of Trustees.
If the trust deed does not specify a term for the appointment of a trustee, they will now be considered a tenure trustee, usually for a period of up to five years.
The Bill also proposes an amendment to subsection (6) of Section 18 of the Act whereby an application for registration of trusts must be accompanied by a copy of the document showing ownership or interest in the immovable property of the trusts.
This would prevent any false claim being made over any property as the trust property while registering the trust.
The Bill has proposed an amendment that would enhance the penalty for breaking some of the Act's provisions, including those pertaining to the unapproved sale or leasing of real estate and the failure to reserve hospital beds for patients who are impoverished.
During the registration process, it became necessary to provide evidence of ownership or interest in any real estate classified under a public trust.
The Bill allows public trusts, such as large temples and charities, to invest up to 50 per cent of their total corpus in certain market-linked securities without the Charity Commissioner's case-by-case permission.
(With inputs from IANS)
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