Official Trustees Act, 1913 :: Indian Bare Acts
1. Short title, extent and commencement
(1) This Act may be called the Official Trustees Act, 1913.
(2) It extends to the whole of
(3) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government, by notification in the Official Gazette may direct.
2. Interpretation clause
In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject
or context,-
(1) "Government" or "the Government", means,
in relation to a State, the State Government and, in relation to a
(2) "Prescribed" means prescribed by rules under this Act.
3. Extent of jurisdiction of High Court
The High Court shall, in respect of proceedings instituted by or
against the Official Trustee under this Act or the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 (2
of 1882), be a competent Court throughout the territories in relation to which
it exercises civil appellate jurisdiction:
PROVIDED that nothing in this section shall be construed as affecting the jurisdiction of any district court.
4. Official Trustees
(1) The Government shall appoint an Official Trustee for each
State:
PROVIDED that nothing herein contained shall be deemed
to bar the appointment of the same person as Official Trustee for two or more
States.
(2) No person shall be appointed to the office of Official
Trustee unless he has been for at least-
(a) seven years, an advocate; or
(b) seven years, an attorney of a High Court;
or
(c) ten years, a member of the judicial
service of a State; or
(d) five years, a Deputy Official Trustee.
5. Appointment and powers of Deputy Official Trustee
(1) The Government may appoint a Deputy or Deputies to assist
the Official Trustee; and any Deputy so appointed shall, subject to the control
of the Government and the general or special orders of the Official Trustee, be
competent to discharge any of the duties and exercise any of the powers of the
Official Trustee, and, when discharging such duties or exercising such powers,
shall have the same privileges and be subject to the same liabilities as the
Official Trustee.
(2) No person shall be appointed as a Deputy unless he has been
for at least three years-
(a) an advocate; or
(b) an attorney of a High Court; or
(c) a member of the judicial service of a State.
6. Official Trustee to be corporation sole, to have
perpetual succession and official seal, and to sue and be sued in his corporate
name
The Official Trustee shall be a corporation sole by the name of the Official Trustee of the State for which he is appointed and, such Official Trustee, shall have perpetual succession and an official seal, and may sue and be sued in his corporate name.
7. General powers and duties of Official Trustee
(1) Subject to, and in accordance with, the provisions of this
Act and the rules made thereunder, the Official Trustee may, if he thinks fit,-
(a) act as an ordinary trustee;
(b) be appointed trustee by a Court of
competent jurisdiction.
(2) Save as hereinafter expressly provided, the Official Trustee
shall have the same powers, duties and liabilities and be entitled to the same
rights and privileges and be subject to the same control and orders of the
Court as any other trustee acting in the same capacity.
(3) The Official Trustee may decline, either absolutely or
except on such conditions as he may impose, to accept any trust.
(4) The Official Trustee shall not accept any trust under any
composition or scheme of arrangement for the benefit of creditors, nor of any
estate known or believed by him to be insolvent.
(5) The Official Trustee shall not, save as provided by any
rules made under this Act, accept any trust for a religious purpose or any
trust which involves the management or carrying on of any business.
(6) The Official Trustee shall not administer the estate of a
deceased person, unless he is expressly appointed sole executor of, and sole
trustee under, the will of such person.
(7) The Official Trustee shall always be sole trustee, and it shall not be lawful to appoint the Official Trustee to be trustee along with any other person.
8. Official Trustee may with consent be appointed trustee
of settlement by grantor
(1) Any person intending to create a trust other than a trust
which the Official Trustee is prohibited from accepting under the provisions of
this Act may by the instrument creating the trust and with the consent of the
Official Trustee, appoint him by that name or any other sufficient description
to be the trustee of the property subject to such trust:
PROVIDED that the consent of the Official Trustee shall
be recited in the said instrument and that such instrument shall be duly
executed by the Official Trustee.
(2) Upon such appointment the property subject to the trust shall vest in such Official Trustee, and shall be held by him upon the trusts declared in such instrument.
9. Appointment of Official Trustee as trustee by will
When the Official Trustee has by that name or any other
sufficient description been appointed trustee under any will, the executor of
the will of the testator or the administrator of his estate shall, after
obtaining probate or letters of administration, notify in the prescribed manner
the contents of such will to such Official Trustee; and, if such Official
Trustee consents to accept the trust, then upon the execution by such executor
or administrator of an instrument in writing transferring the property subject
to the trust to the Official Trustee, such property shall vest in such Official
Trustee, and shall be held by him upon the trusts expressed in the said will:
PROVIDED that the consent of the Official Trustee shall be recited in the said instrument and that such instrument shall be duly executed by the Official Trustee.
10. Power of High Court to appoint Official Trustee to be
trustee of property
(1) If any property is subject to a trust other than a trust
which the Official Trustee is prohibited from accepting under the provisions of
this Act, and there is no trustee within the local limits of the ordinary or
extraordinary original civil jurisdiction of the High Court willing or capable
to act in the trust, the High Court may on application make an order for the
appointment of the Official Trustee by that name with his consent to be the
trustee of such property.
(2) Upon such order such property shall vest in the Official
Trustee and shall be held by him upon the same trusts as the same was held
previously to such order, and the previous trustee or trustees (if any) shall
be exempt from the liability as trustees of such property save in respect of
acts done before the date of such order.
(3) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to affect the provisions of the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 (2 of 1882).
11. Power of private trustees to appoint Official Trustee
to be trustee of property
(1) If any property is subject to a trust other than a trust
which the Official Trustee is prohibited from accepting under the provisions of
this Act, and all the trustees or the surviving or continuing trustee or trustees
and all persons beneficially interested in the trust are desirous that the
Official Trustee shall be appointed in the room of such trustee or trustees, it
shall be lawful for such trustee or trustees, by an instrument in writing to
appoint the Official Trustee by that name or any other sufficient description
with his consent to be the trustee of such property:
PROVIDED that the consent of the Official Trustee shall
be recited in the said instrument and that such instrument shall be duly
executed by him.
(2) Upon such appointment such property shall vest in the Official Trustee and shall be held by him upon the same trusts as the same was held previously to such appointment, and the previous trustee or trustees shall be exempt from all liability as trustees of such property save in respect of acts done before the date of such appointment.
12. Executor or administrator may pay to Official Trustee
legacy, share etc., of minor or lunatic
(1) If any minor or lunatic is entitled to any gift, legacy or share
of the assets of a deceased person, it shall be lawful for the person by whom
such gift is made, or executor or administrator by whom such legacy or share is
payable or transferable or any trustee of such gift, legacy or share, to
transfer the same by an instrument in writing to the Official Trustee by that
name or any other sufficient description with his consent:
PROVIDED that the consent of the Official Trustee shall
be recited in the said instrument and that such instrument shall be duly
executed by the Official Trustee.
(2) Any money or property transferred to the Official Trustee under this section shall vest in him and shall be subject to the same provisions as are contained in this Act as to other property vested in such Official Trustee.
13. Official Trustee not to be required to give bond or
security
(1) No Official Trustee shall be required by any Court to enter
into any bond or security on his appointment in any capacity under this Act.
(2) No Official Trustee shall be required to verify otherwise than by his signature any petition presented by him under the provisions of this Act, and if the facts stated in any such petition are not within his personal knowledge, the petition may be verified and subscribed by any person competent to make the verification.
14. Entry of Official Trustee not to constitute notice of
a trust
The entry of the Official Trustee by that name in the books of a company shall not constitute notice of a trust; and a company shall not be entitled to object to enter the name of the Official Trustee on its register by reason only that the Official Trustee is a corporation; and, in dealing with property, the fact that the person dealt with is the Official Trustee shall not of itself constitute notice of a trust.
15. Liability of Government
(1) The Government shall be liable to make good all sums
required to discharge any liability which the Official Trustee, if he were a
private trustee, would be personally liable to discharge, except when the
liability is one to which neither the Official Trustee nor any of his officers
has in any way contributed or which neither he nor any of his officers could by
the exercise of reasonable diligence have averted, and in either of those cases
the Official Trustee shall not, nor shall the Government, be subject to any
liability.
(2) Nothing in sub-section (1) shall be deemed to render the Government or any Official Trustee appointed under this Act liable for anything done by or under the authority of any Official Trustee before the commencement of this Act.
16. Notice of suit not required in certain cases
Nothing in section 80 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), shall apply to any suit against the Official Trustee in which no relief is claimed against him personally.
17. Fees
(1) There shall be charged in respect of the duties of the
Official Trustee such fees, whether by way of percentage or otherwise, as the
Government may prescribe.
(2) The fees under this section may be at different rates for different properties or classes of properties or for different duties, and shall, so far as may be, be arranged so as to produce an amount sufficient to discharge the salaries and all other expenses incidental to the working of this Act (including such sum as Government may determine to be required to insure the Government against loss under this Act).
18. Disposal of fees
(1) All expenses which might be retained or paid out of the
trust fund, if the Official Trustee were a private trustee, shall be so
retained or paid, and any fees leviable under this Act shall be retained or
paid in like manner as and in addition to such expenses.
(2) The Official Trustee shall transfer and pay to such authority and in such manner and at such times as the Government may prescribe, all fees received by him under this Act, and the same shall be carried to the amount and credit of the Government.
19. Auditors to be appointed to examine Official Trustee's
accounts, etc., and to report to Government
(1) The accounts of the Official Trustee shall be audited at
least once annually and at any other time if the Government so direct by the
prescribed person and in the prescribed manner.
(2) The auditor shall examine such accounts, and shall forward
to Government a statement thereof in the prescribed form, together with a
report thereon and a certificate signed by him showing,-
(a) whether the accounts have been audited in
the prescribed manner, and whether, so far as can be ascertained by such audit,
the accounts contain a full and true account of everything which ought to be
contained therein;
(b) whether the books, which by any rules made
under this Act are directed to be kept by the Official Trustee, have been duly
and regularly kept; and
(c) whether the trust funds and securities
have been duly dept and invested and deposited in the manner prescribed by this
Act or any rules made thereunder;
or (as the case may be) that such accounts are deficient, or that the Official Trustee has failed to comply with this Act or the rules made thereunder, in such respects as may be specified in such certificate.
20. Auditor's power to summon witnesses and to call for
documents
(1) Every auditor shall have the powers of a
(a) to summon any person whose presence he may
think necessary to attend him from time to time; and
(b) to examine any person, on oath to be by
him administered; and
(c) to issue a commission for the examination
on interrogatories or otherwise of any person; and
(d) to summon any person to produce any
document or thing, the production of which appears to be necessary for the
purposes of such audit or examination.
(2) Any person who, when summoned, refuses, or without reasonable cause neglects to attend or to produce any document or thing or attends and refuses to be sworn, or to be examined shall be deemed to have committed an offence within the meaning of, and punishable under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860), and the auditor shall report every case of such refusal or neglect to Government.
21. Costs of audit, etc., how paid
The cost of and incidental to every such audit and examination shall be determined in accordance with rules made by the Government and shall be defrayed in the prescribed manner.
22. Right of beneficiary to inspection and copies of
accounts
Every beneficiary under a trust which is being administered by the Official Trustee shall, subject to such conditions and restrictions as may be prescribed, be entitled, at all reasonable times, to inspect the accounts of such trust, and the report and certificate of the auditor and, on payment of the prescribed fee, to be furnished with copies thereof or extracts there from, and nothing in the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 (2 of 1882), shall affect the provisions of this section.
23. Transfer to Government of accumulations in the hands
of Official Trustee
When any moneys payable to a beneficiary under a trust have been
in the hands of any Official Trustee for a period of twelve years or upwards
whether before or after the commencement of this Act in consequence of the
Official Trustee having been unable to trace the person entitled to receive the
same, such moneys shall be transferred in the prescribed manner to the account
and credit of the Government:
PROVIDED that no such moneys shall be so transferred if any suit or proceeding is pending in respect thereof in any Court.
24. Mode of proceeding by claimant to recover money so
transferred
(1) If any claim is made to any moneys so transferred and such
claim is established to the satisfaction of the prescribed authority, the
Government shall pay to the claimant the amount in respect of which the claim
is established.
(2) If such claim is not established to the satisfaction of the
prescribed authority, the claimant may, without prejudice to his right to take
any other proceedings for the recovery of such moneys, apply by petition to the
High Court against the Government, and after taking such evidence as it thinks
fit, such Court shall make such order on the petition in regard to the payment
of such moneys as it thinks fit, and such order shall be binding on all parties
to the proceedings.
(3) The Court may further direct by whom all or any part of the costs of such proceedings shall be paid.
25. Power of High Court to make orders in respect of
property vested in Official Trustee
The High Court may make such orders as it thinks fit respecting any trust property vested in the Official Trustee, or the income or produce thereof.
26. Who may apply for order under Act
Any order under this Act may be made, on the application of any person beneficially interested in any trust property or of any trustee thereof.
27. Order of Court to have effect of a decree
Any order made by a High Court under this Act shall have the same effect as a decree.
28. General powers of administration
The Official Trustee may, in addition to and not in derogation
of any other powers of expenditure lawfully exercisable by him, incur
expenditure-
(a) on such acts as may be necessary for the proper care and
management of any property belonging to any trust administrated by him; and
(b) with the sanction of the High Court on such religious, charitable and other objects and on such improvements as may be reasonable and proper in the case of such property.
29. Transfer of trust property by Official Trustee to
original trustee or any other trustee
(1) Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to prevent the transfer
by the Official Trustee of any property vested in him to-
(a) the original trustee (if any); or
(b) any other lawfully appointed trustee; or
(c) any other person if the Court so directs.
(2) Upon such transfer such property shall vest in such trustee,
and shall be held by him upon the same trusts as those upon which it was held
prior to such transfer, and the Official Trustee shall be exempt from all
liability as trustee of such property except in respect of acts done before
such transfer:
PROVIDED that, in the case of any transfer under this section, the Official Trustee shall be entitled to retain out of the property any fees leviable in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
30. Rules
(1) The Government shall make rules for carrying into effect the
objects of this Act and for regulating the proceedings of the Official Trustee
in the discharge of his duties.
(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the
foregoing power, such rules may provide for-
(a) the accounts to be kept by the Official
Trustee and the audit and inspection thereof;
(b) the safe custody, and deposit of the funds
and securities which come into the hands of the Official Trustee;
(c) the remittance of sums of money in the
hands of the Official Trustee in cases in which such remittances are required;
(d) the statements, schedules and other
documents to be submitted by the Official Trustee to Government or to any other
authority and the publication of such statements, schedules or other documents;
(e) the realization of the cost of preparing
any such statements, schedules or other documents;
(f) subject to the provisions of this Act, the
fees to be paid thereunder and the collection and accounting for any fees so
fixed;
(g) the manner in which and the person by whom
the costs of and incidental to any audit under the provisions of this Act are
to be determined and defrayed;
(h) the manner in which summonses issued under
the provisions of section 20 are to be served and payment of the expenses of
any persons summoned or examined under the provisions of this Act and of any
expenditure incidental to such examination;
(i) the acceptance by the Official Trustee of
trusts for religious purposes and trusts which involve the management or
carrying on of business; and
(j) any matter in this Act directed to be
prescribed.
(3) Rules made under the provisions of this section shall be
published in the Official Gazette, and shall thereupon have effect as if
enacted in this Act.
1[(3A) Every rule made by the State Government under this
section shall be laid, as soon as it is made, before the State Legislature.]
(4) Every rule made the Central Government under this section shall be laid as soon as it may be after it is made, before each House of Parliament while it is in session for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or 2[in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid,] both Houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both Houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so however that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule.
31. Division of presidency into provinces
[Repealed by the Government of India (Adaptation of Indian Laws) Order, 1937]
32. Saving of provisions of Indian Registration Act, 1908
Nothing contained in this Act shall be deemed to affect the provisions of the Indian Registration Act, 1908 (16 of 1908).
32A. Saving
(1) The amendments of this Act which come into force on the 26th
day of January, 1950, shall not affect any legal proceedings pending in any
court on that date or be construed as automatically transferring any property
from any Official Trustee to any other Official Trustee; but nothing in this
section shall be construed as preventing a transfer of any such property in
accordance with any of the other provisions of this Act.
(2) The amendments of this Act, which come into force on the 26th day of January, 1950 shall not affect any legal proceeding arising out of application of this Act to any person in a Part B State and pending in any Court on the said date or the administration of any property or estate of any such person which was immediately before that date vested in an Official Trustee under this Act, and the provisions of this Act shall, notwithstanding the said amendments, continue to apply with necessary modifications, in relation to such proceedings or such property or estate, as the case may be.
32B. Special provision regarding certain Official Trustees
affected by States’ reorganization
The amendments of this Act which come into force on the lst November, 1956, shall not affect any legal proceedings pending in any Court on that date and where, on account of the reorganization of States under the States Reorganization Act, 1956 (37 of 1956) or the Bihar and West Bengal (Transfer of Territories) Act, 1956 (40 of 1956), the whole or any part of a State is transferred to any other State, such transfer of the territory of the State shall not be construed as automatically transferring any property from any Official Trustee to any other Official Trustee; but if, by reason of such transfer of territory, it appears to the Central Government that the whole or any part of the property vested in an Official Trustee, should be vested in another Official Trustee, that Government may direct that the property will be so vested and thereupon it shall vest in that other Official Trustee and his successors as fully and effectually for the purposes of this Act, as if it had been originally vested in him under this Act.
33. Repeal
[Repealed by the Repealing Act, 1927 (12 of 1927)]
File Size: 223.33kb