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Judgment
Kapur, J.—This is an application by the Official Trustee, Punjab, u/s 25 of the Official Trustee''s Act seeking directions in regard to Rs. 1,551-1-0 which is at the disposal of the Official Trustee as also in regard to the future income.
One Dr. Ajaib Singh, who, it appears, was a gentleman of enlightenment and broad-minded ness executed a trust deed on 9-6-1934 which was accepted by the Official Trustee on 12th June 1934. By this deed of trust he left a sum of Rs. 30,000/- in G. P. Notes the income of which was to be distributed in the following proportion-
To his wife Raj Kaur .. 35 To his daughter .. 50 To Barbara Singh a ''Satsangi'' .. 15 He also provided that in the event of the death of any one of the, beneficiaries his or her share was to be given in the form of scholarship "to poor Garewal Sikh students of both sexes, belonging to village Gujarwal and studying at any of the schools technical, vocational or otherwise situate in the said village, half o� the income in each case being set apart for the cause of female education in the said village", and the criterion for the giving of scholarships was the poverty of the recipient and not necessarily his or her ability.
Raj Kaur died during the settlor''s lifetime and on 15-1-1950 he wrote to the Official Trustees that as the Zamindars of his village are much richer than they were when he executed the deed of trust and they did not need any money for education nothing should be paid in the form of scholarships but that amount, "should be saved for funds created by me". He also added at the bottom of the letter "No explanation to any one is needed." To this the Official Trustee replied on 13-4-1950 stating that as a trust had been created and as no reservation had been made the trust money could not be withdrawn. On 16-4-1950 the settlor wrote a letter from Solan stating-
"I now find that the scholarships given to village girls living with their parents, are not needed. The amount should from these scholarships in future be paid in the form of one scholarship of Rs. 24/- per month to a deserving poor Sikh student studying in either Medical or Engineering College of the Punjab (India) and it should be named Dr. Ajaib Singh scholarship and be paid through the D. A. V. College, Managing Committee, Jullundur City."
Upon this the Official Trustee rightly made an application under S. 25 of the Official Trustee''s Act for directions. In reply to this application objections have been filed by Harnam Kaur, the daughter, who was one of the beneficiaries and also by Darbara Singh who was another beneficiary. Both of them have pleaded that the object of the settlor was to apply the proceeds of the unspent income towards scholarships and since that object has failed the amount should be given to the other objects of the settlors bounty.
I do not think that there is any failure of the objects of the trust. In my opinion the settlor had rightly come to the conclusion that the needs of the boys and girls of his village were not so great and therefore he wanted to divert the unspent income that he had left towards other charities. It is one of the cardinal rules governing execution of charitable trusts that the intention of the donor must be observed and cypres principle has been evolved as an auxiliary to this rule and is never allowed to defeat it; see Tudor on Charities, p. 146.
It is also one of the principles of such trusts that if the charity can be administered according to the directions of the founder the law requires that it should be so administered; per Cozens-Hardy, M. R., - ''In re Weir Hospital'' 1910 2 Ch 124 (A). And it is also clear from the Authorities which are all given at p. 147 of Tudor on Charities that when donor''s directions can be exactly obeyed the Court will not allow any departure from them on grounds of expediency. Following these principles I am of the opinion that the proper direction to be given in this case is to carry out the later direction of the settlor contained in the letter, Annexure D, dated 16-4-1950. I would direct accordingly. The respondents should pay the costs of these proceedings. Counsel''s fee Rs. 50/-.