AT CHIKKABALLAPUR
BETWEEN
1. SRI SATHYA SAI CENTRAL TRUST
A Public Charitable Trust having its
Office at ‘Prasanthi Nilayam’
Puttaparthi, Ananthpur District
Andhra Pradesh 515 134
Represented herein by its Secretary PLAINTIFF NO. 1
4. Sri. V. Srinivasan
S/o Late Sri M.R. Venkatraman
Aged about 77 years
‘SRINIDHI’
No. 3, SathyaNarayana Avenue
R.A. Puram
Chennai 600 028 PLAINTIFF NO. 4
1
Aged about, 72 years
residing at A - 701,
Blossom Boulevard,
South Main Road, Koregaon Park,
Pune - 411001 PLAINTIFF NO 7
AND:
2
District- 574235 DEFENDANT NO. 4
7. Sri. K Vasanthraj
Aged about 66 years
son of late Sri K Narayana Bhat
Resident of Sathya Sai Grama,
Muddenahalli,
Chikballapura District DEFENDANT NO. 7
BETWEEN
2. T.K.K. Bhagwat
S/o Sri T. R. Bhagavat
aged about 80 years
residing at, 4072, ‘Padma’
30th Cross, Banashankari II Stage
3
Bangalore –560 070 APPLICANT NO. 2
7. Vijay Kelkar
S/o Sri Laxman Vishnu Kelkar,
aged about, 72 years
residing at A - 701,
Blossom Boulevard,
South Main Road, Koregaon Park,
Pune - 411001 APPLICANT NO. 7
8. S.S. Naganand
S/o S.G. Sundarswamy
aged about 57 years
Achaiah Shetty layout
RMV Extension,
Near Mekri Circle,
Bangalore- 560080 APPLICANT NO. 8
9. R.J. Rathnakar
S/o the Late R.V. Janakiramaiah
Aged about 44 years
Sivalayam Street
Puttaparthi, Ananthapur District
Andhra Pradesh 515 134 APPLICANT NO. 9
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AND
3. Sri. K Vasanthraj
aged about 66 years
son of late K Narayan Bhat
Sathya Sai Grama,
Muddenahalli,
Chikballapura District OPPONENT NO. 3
For the reasons stated in the accompanying affidavit, it is prayed that this
Hon’ble Court may be pleased to issue an ad-interim order of temporary
injunction restraining the Opponents/ Defendant Nos. 5 to 8 from holding out,
claiming, acting or taking any steps as Trustees of Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva
Trust.
PLACE
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IN THE COURT OF SENIOR CIVIL JUDGE, CHIKKABALLAPUR
AT CHIKKABALLAPUR
BETWEEN
AND
AFFIDAVIT
I T.K.K. Bhagawat S/o Late Sri. T.R. Bhagawat aged about 80 years
residing at 4072, 'Padma' 30th Cross, Banashankari II Stage, Bangalore- 560
070 do hereby solemnly affirm and state as follows: -
2. The Plaintiffs have filed the above suit seeking declaration that the
amendment carried out to the trust deed on 12.09.2012 was illegal and
cancellation of the deed of amendment dated 12.09.2012 Document No CKB-4-
00133-2012-13 in Book IV CD No CKBD81 in the office of the Sub registrar,
Chikkaballapura executed by Defendants 2, 3 and 4 along with other
consequential reliefs. The averments made in the plaint may be read as part
and parcel of this affidavit in order to avoid repetition of facts and I do hereby
affirm the same.
3. I state that, prior to 1978, a society by the name of Loka Seva Vrinda was
formed with its principal office at Alike, Bantwal taluk, Dakshina Kannada
District. It had a branch at Muddenahalli, Chikkaballapur Taluk, Kolar
District. Sri Madiyal Narayana Bhat, a public spirited and pious person from
Alike was the moving spirit behind Loka Seva Vrinda. The said society had
established two schools, one at Alike and another at Muddenahalli. Sri Madiyal
Narayana Bhat unfortunately passed away, suddenly, in a road accident. Being
unable to carry on its objects in the absence of its mentor and moving spirit,
Narayana Bhat’s family members and office bearers of the society who were
devotees of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba of Puttaparthi placed their
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difficulties before him in running the institutions. They fervently prayed to
Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba to guide the institution and take them in his
fold. The members of the society at a General Body Meeting on 22.2.1978
resolved, that for a better promotion of the objects of the society, a Trust
should be formed and all the properties belonging to the society should be
transferred to the Trust. Accordingly, Loka Seva Vrinda represented by its
President founded a public charitable trust by the name ‘Sri Sathya Sai Loka
Seva Trust’. The formation of the Trust was by the execution of a Deed of Trust
on 14.8.1978 which was registered in the office of the Sub-Registrar,
Chikkabllapur as Document No. 811 in Book I in volume 1277 at pages 1 to
12. It is significant to note that as per the said Deed of Trust, the sole trustee
was Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. All the properties belonging to the society
and described in the schedules to the Deed of Trust together with liabilities in
excess of Rupees Ten Lakhs as detailed in Schedule III were transferred to the
trust.
4. Ever since the formation of the Trust, Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba
continued to hold, possess and administer all the assets and the properties of
the Trust, discharged all the liabilities and provided ways and means for
running of the schools.
“VI. Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba shall be the Sole Trustee. After
he sheds his mortal coil, the persons nominated by him shall be
Trustees and they shall hold office for such periods as The Bhagavan
may have fixed. In the absence of fixation of any Tenure, the Trustee/s
so nominated by him shall hold office for life. Vacancies occurring in the
Office of Trustee after Bhagavan shall be filled by the Remaining
Trustees in Office and if no one such is in Office, then the nominee/s of
Sri Sathya Sai Trust, (Karnataka) shall be the Trustee/s.”
6. In the Year 2008 Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba decided that the Deed of
Trust dated 14.8.1978 particularly the clause relating to the appointment of
trustees should be amended. The draft deed of amendment was approved by
Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba and duly signed by him. The same was enclosed
to a power of attorney executed by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba authorizing
Sri S.S. Naganand to execute the Deed of Amendment and register it.
Accordingly, the Deed of amendment dated 30.6.2008 was executed and
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registered on 30.6.2008 as document No.CKB-1-00981-2008-09 in book No. I of
CD No. CKBD 32 in the office of the Sub-Registrar, Chikkaballapur.
“Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba shall be First Trustee and shall
hold Office for life. The Trust shall have a maximum of 5 Trustees. The
First Trustee and after Him Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust, a registered
Public Charitable Trust, shall nominate the other Trustees from time to time
to hold Office at the pleasure of the First Trustee/Sri Sathya Sai Central
Trust.”
8. On 24.04.2011, Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba shed his mortal coil and
attained Mahasamadhi. On 28.04.2011, the Trustees of Sri Sathya Sai Central
Trust, in exercise of the power vested in them as per Clause VI of the Amended
Trust Deed dated 30.06.2008 passed a resolution appointing (i) Sri U
Gangadhar Bhat (Defendant No. 3), (ii) Sri. S.S. Naganand (Plaintiff No. 8) and
(iii) Sri. B.R. Vasuki as Trustees of Sri Sathya Sai Lok Seva Trust. Plaintiff No.4
was also appointed as Trustee on 20th November 2012. The said Trustees were
to hold Office at the pleasure of Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust.
10. The Board of Trustees of Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust allowed the Loka
Seva Trust to function independently and without any hindrance. Five Trustees
of the Trust met several times and took several decisions.
11. A few months after the Mahasamadhi of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, it
was noticed that Sri. B.N. Narasimha Murthy, Secretary of the trust started
propagating a new venture. Sri. B.N. Narasimha Murthy claimed that Bhagavan
Sri Sathya Sai Baba was "instructing" him in a subtle form to set up schools in
several parts of Karnataka and started contacting devotees of Bhagavan Sri
Sathya Sai Baba all over the world for collection of funds. A trust called Sri
Sathya Sai Saraswathi Trust was also formed by some of the Alumni with active
support and encouragement of Sri B.N. Narasimha Murthy.
12. Sri B.N. Narasimha Murthy also started criticizing some of the members
of Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust and spread many rumors that they would
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destabilize Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva Trust, even though there was no such
move at all.
13. On 11.09.2012, a meeting of the Board of Trustees of Sri Sathya Sai Lok
Seva Trust was held at Bangalore, in the chambers of Sri S.S.Naganand which
was attended by Sri Gangadhar Bhat, Sri Eswar Bhat, Sri B.N. Narasimha
Murthy, Sri S.S. Naganand and Sri B.R. Vasuki (Trustees) Sri B. Narayana Rao,
Mahendra Hegde and R.K. Subramanya were also present as invitees in the said
meeting. The items on the agenda were discussed and decisions were taken.
One of the items in the agenda was the adoption of a Code of Conduct for the
Trustees and the employees of the Trust.
14. Sri S.S. Naganand brought to the attention of the Trustees that the
Trustees of the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust had adopted a Code of Conduct for
taking decisions pertaining to the affairs of the Trust and it would be advisable
for the Trustees of Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva Trust that a similar Code could be
considered and adopted by them. A draft of the proposed Code of Conduct had
been circulated to all the trustees and the same was also read out at the
meeting by Sri S.S. Naganand. Sri B.N. Narasimha Murthy however expressed
that some more time was needed to deliberate over the code of conduct and the
same could be considered at a later point of time. That having been accepted by
all the trustees, the meeting concluded at 8.20 p.m.
15. On the same night, on 11.09.2012, Sri S.S. Naganand left for Dharwad
by train for his professional work. The trustees were informed of his visit. On
12th September, 2012 Sri B.N. Narasimha Murthy sent an e-mail to Sri S.S.
Naganand at 12.41 p.m. requesting him to attend emergency meeting of the
Board of Trustees at 5.00 p.m. on the same day at Muddenahalli.
16. Sri S.S. Naganand sent a reply e-mail at 1.49 p.m. to Sri B.N. Narasimha
Murthy objecting to the meeting and requested that the meeting should not be
conducted
17. Sri Narasimha Murthy replied at 4.25 pm stating that in view of the
resignation of Sri B.R. Vasuki, the trust meeting was convened to fill the
vacancy. Sri S.S. Naganand promptly replied at 4.55 p.m. through e mail to
Narasimha Murthy pointing out that the appointment of trustees is to be done
by the Trustees of Central Trust and not by the Trustees of Loka Seva Trust.
Thereafter, Sri Narasimha Murthy maintained a stoic silence. There was no
information or intimation as to whether the alleged meeting was held on 12th
September, 2012.
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18. On 13th September, 2012 at 20:55 hours, Sri Narasimha Murthy sent a e-
mail to Sri S.S. Naganand vaguely stating that the earlier e-mail of Sri S.S.
Naganand was not based on facts and records. In the said e-mail there was no
whisper of any alleged meeting of the trustees on 12th September, 2012. More
importantly Sri Narasimha Murthy stated nothing about any amendment to the
Deed of trust. It came to light that on 12th September, 2012 at 11.05 am, three
trustees Sri U. Ganghadhara Bhat, Sri M. Eshwar Bhat and B.N. Narasimha
Murthy appeared before the Sub-Registrar, Chikkaballapur, executed and
presented a deed of amendment amending Clause VI of the Trust Deed by
substituting the following:
VI. Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba is the First Trustee for the life. Now
that Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba has shed his mortal coil, after Him, i) Sri.
U. Gangadhara Bhat, ii) Sri. B N Narasimha Murthy, iii) Sri M. Ishwara Bhat
iv) Sri S S Naganand and v) Sri B R Vasuki, are holding offices of Trustee for
life. The Trust shall have maximum of Nine trustees. Any vacancy/vacancies in
the office of Trustee/s, shall be filled by the remaining Trustees holding office.”
19. I state that, Defendant Nos. 2, 3 and 4 have acted contrary to the
mandate of the trust deed. On 11th September, 2012, there was no item on the
agenda for amendment of the Trust Deed. The issue was not discussed. Sri S.S.
Naganand and Sri Vasuki did not approve any resolution to amend the trust
deed as is falsely sought to be made out in the concocted minutes of the
meeting on 11th September, 2012. The action of Defendants 2, 3 and 4 is illegal
and unsustainable inasmuch as the alleged decision to amend the Trust Deed
was taken by Defendants 2 to 4 without the concurrence of Plaintiff No. 8 and
Sri B. R. Vasuki. The action of Defendant Nos. 2 to 4 is in violation of Section
48 of the Indian Trust Act, 1882, which interalia provides that Trustees cannot
singly unless the Trust Deed provides otherwise. I submit that the Trust Deed
does not provide that the decisions of Trust can be taken by majority of the
Trustees. Under the circumstances, any decision to Amend the Trust Deed must
been taken by all the Trustees acting together. It is pertinent to mention that
though Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva Trust is a Public Charitable Trust, the
principles of Indian Trust Act, 1882, which is applicable to Private Trust are
also applicable to Public Charitable Trust as laid down by several
pronouncements of the Hon’ble Supreme Court. The action of Defendants 2 to
4, without concurrence of two other Trustees namely Sri S.S. Naganand and Sri
B.R. Vasuki is patently illegal and can have no legal effect on the Trust and the
Trustees in Office.
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without concurrence of two of the Trustees namely Sri S.S. Naganand and Sri
B.R. Vasuki. The Deed of Amendment is therefore, illegal, void and non est in
the eye of law. The said Deed does not and cannot bind the Trust and its
Trustees.
21. The power to appoint the Trustees was vested in and continues to be
vested in the Board of Trustees of Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust. That power has
not been and cannot be taken away by three out of five trustees without the
concurrence of the other two Trustees in office. The action of purportedly
holding another meeting on 12.9.2012 and appointing four Trustees namely
Defendants 5, 6, 7 and 8 is ex-facie illegal and contrary to law. Such action is
mala fide inasmuch as it is wholly without authority of law and is an attempt to
take Trust out side the purview of the power and control vested in Sri Sathya
Sai Central Trust. The amendment is not for the benefit of the Trust and
Defendants 2 to 4 have acted in gross disregard of their obligations as Trustees
and such action disentitles them to continue as Trustees. It is a breach of the
fiduciary duty of the Trustees and the same has been done for personal
aggrandizement and to hijack the Trust and take it outside the purview of the
control of Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust. The power vested in Sri Sathya Sai
Central Trust is a sacred power conferred upon the Trustees of Sri Sathya Sai
Central Trust by the then sole Trustee of Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva Trust,
Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Such power cannot be annulled or taken away
by illegal actions of three trustees acting in cahoots. Such action is motivated to
indulge in wanton disregard of the power vested in Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust.
22. Inspite of the above shocking illegal and unwarranted acts of the
Defendants with a view to make them see reason and to retrace their wrong
actions and to come back to the fold of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba's
institutions, several attempts were made by the trustees of Sri Sathya Sai
Central Trust to meet the defendants and impress upon them the need to re-
trace their steps. At every meeting, the approach of the Defendants was
different. They came up with unreasonable demands and used their illegal
actions as bargaining tool and wanted the Deed of Trust to be amended taking
away the power vested in Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust to appoint and remove
the Trustees of the Trust at their pleasure. All such demands were resisted and
the Defendants were implored to annul the Deed of Amendment dated
12.9.2012 and the subsequent illegal actions of appointing Defendants 5 to 8 as
Trustees.
23. Further, in keeping with the spirit of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba's
teachings a letter dated 25th August 2013 was addressed by Sri. K.
Chakravarthi to Sri U. Gangadhar Bhat making it clear that the Sri Sathya Sai
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Lok Seva Trust and its institutions could be run as per the guidelines laid by
Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba and Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust is not
interested in interfering with their administration except for the power to
appoint Trustees, which power also would be exercised taking into
consideration all factors. The Defendants were implored to retrace their wrong
steps. After this letter there was no perceptible change in the actions of the
Defendants. After some months another detailed letter was sent by Sri. K.
Chakravarthi on 28th October 2013 to Sri U. Gangadhara Bhat requesting them
to correct themselves.
24. These efforts have not fructified as the defendants continue to persist in
their illegal actions and by that means are attempting to hijack the trust and
take it out side the control of the Central Trust which is a reputed public
charitable trust held in high esteem in the country and abroad.
25. On the other hand the defendants have made concerted effort to keep Sri
Sathya Sai Central Trust and its nominee in the dark of the affairs of the Trust
by not sending meeting notices in advance, not sending agenda papers, not
sending minutes of meetings promptly, not preparing minutes of meeting
correctly, not sending details sought by Sri. S.S. Naganand, not furnishing the
annual accounts, not furnishing copies of the returns submitted to the Income
Tax Department, Home Ministry Government of India under FCRA Act, not
sharing details of academic performance of students, not sharing details of fee
collected and expenses incurred, not sharing details of donations collected etc.
27. I state that the Plaintiffs have made out a prima facie case for grant of
temporary injunction. The balance of convenience lies in favour of granting an
interim order as prayed for. Irreparable loss and hardship will be caused to me
12
if the accompanying application is not allowed. No loss or hardship will be
caused to the Defendants if the same is allowed. It is respectfully submitted
that an ex-parte ad-interim order of temporary injunction is essential to protect
the interests of Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva Trust. If notice to the Defendants is
not dispensed with before the grant of any interim order, it will enable the
Defendants 5 to 8 to take preemptive action to render the suit and the
application infructuous. However, no hardship or injury will be caused to the
Defendants 5 to 8 if they restrained from holding themselves out as Trustees of
the Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva Trust as Defendants 5 to 8 are not lawfully
appointed trustees as they have not been appointed by Plaintiff No.1 trust
which has the power to appoint trustees to Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva trust.
PLACE
DATE DEPONENT
No. of Corrections
Identified by:
ADVOCATE
VERIFICATION
PLACE
DATE DEPONENT
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