Section 18 of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950 requires every trustee of a public charitable trust in Maharashtra to apply for its registration with the Deputy or Assistant Charity Commissioner, and the duty falls personally on the trustees rather than on the institution itself. Registration is not optional paperwork: an unregistered trust cannot sue to protect its own property, and its trustees risk personal liability for dealings carried out in the trust's name befor

An order passed by the Charity Commissioner or one of the Deputy or Assistant Charity Commissioners under the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950 (the "MPT Act") is rarely the end of the road for a party who disagrees with it. Depending on what the order actually decides, it can be challenged through a statutory appeal, a further appeal reaching the District Court, or, in some situations, a writ petition straight to the Bombay High Court. Picking the wrong route wastes time t

Recovering misappropriated funds from a charitable trust in Mumbai requires a civil suit under Section 50 of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950, filed in the District Court or the Bombay City Civil Court, but that suit cannot proceed until the Charity Commissioner grants written consent under Section 51 of the Act. Sections 50 and 51 apply regardless of how the claim is labelled, so long as it concerns a breach of trust or misuse of trust property by a trustee. This arti

A trustee who sells trust land without the Charity Commissioner's sanction has not simply made a procedural mistake. The sale itself is void, and everyone who deals with that property afterward, including a purchaser who paid full price in good faith, can find their title unravelling years later once the defect surfaces. This article explains why prior sanction under Section 36 of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950 (the "MPT Act") is treated so strictly, and what a trust

Mortgaging or otherwise encumbering trust property requires the previous sanction of the Charity Commissioner under Section 36A of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950, a distinct and often stricter requirement than the sanction needed for an outright sale under Section 36. Borrowing creates a continuing liability that outlasts the transaction itself and can affect the trust's finances for years. This article explains how Section 36A sanction for encumbering trust property

A private trust in India, governed by the Indian Trusts Act, 1882, holds property such as ancestral property for ascertained individual beneficiaries, while a public trust serves an indeterminate class or the public generally and, in Maharashtra, falls under the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950, which brings the Charity Commissioner into its registration and governance. The classification does not depend on who founded the trust, but on the nature of its beneficiaries and

Sections 41A to 41E of the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950 give the Charity Commissioner a graduated set of powers to address trust mismanagement, ranging from corrective directions under Section 41A to suspension or removal of a trustee under Section 41D. These powers extend to ordering enquiries, monitoring public collections, and issuing interim injunctions to protect trust property, but the Bombay High Court has confined them strictly to administrative and financial s