Nagpur: The state government on Monday tabled the Bill to amend the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act with an aim to standardise trust administration, reduce litigation, and ensure periodic oversight and accountability among trust Board members.
According to the Bill a new section, 30A, will be inserted for appointment of tenure trustees and perpetual trustees where the instrument of trusts does not contain any specific provision.
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.
“It was noticed that in various instruments of trusts there was no clarity about 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, welfare of beneficiaries and the public,” said the Bill.
The Bill 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 proposes 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 to increase the penalties for violation of certain provisions of the Act, such as those related to the unauthorised sale or lease of immovable property and the failure to reserve hospital beds for indigent patients.
It made it mandatory to submit proof of ownership or interest in any immovable property listed under a public trust during the registration process.
According to the Bill, public trusts, including major temples and charities, are now permitted to invest up to 50 per cent of their total corpus in specified market-linked securities without needing case-by-case approval from the Charity Commissioner.
