Ghatkopar sits on the Central line with the metro running overhead along the Jogeshwari–Vikhroli Link Road, and it has one of the highest densities of community trusts, educational societies and religious institutions in the eastern suburbs. Most of the work that comes from it is institutional — boards of trustees and managing committees, rather than individual litigants — and almost all of that work is decided at Worli or online rather than anywhere in Ghatkopar.
The point about distance
Trustees in the eastern suburbs often assume they need an advocate practising nearby. For litigation, frequently true. For the administration of a public trust, largely not: the office of the Charity Commissioner for Greater Mumbai is at Worli, and a Ghatkopar trust’s file sits there exactly as a Malad trust’s does. NGO DARPAN, GST and the income tax applications under Section 12A and Section 80G are all made online. The practical question is therefore not how far away the advocate is, but who is going to attend at Worli and how completely the papers are prepared before they go.
Community trusts and their recurring problems
Ghatkopar’s institutions — schools, dispensaries, halls, welfare bodies, religious trusts — tend to be well run in substance and poorly recorded on paper. The board knows exactly who its trustees are; the Public Trust Register does not, because the deaths, resignations and appointments of the last twenty years were never reported.
That gap is closed by filing the outstanding change reports under Section 22, ordinarily in the order the changes occurred. Since the 2017 amendment a report filed after the ninety-day period can be entertained where sufficient cause is shown, so a long delay is something to explain candidly rather than a reason to avoid filing. Alongside it, the annual accounts and audit need to be brought up to date, because a trust with unfiled accounts finds those raised whenever it applies for anything else.
Property held by trusts
Many Ghatkopar institutions hold a building or a plot, often occupied by a tenant or licensee on an arrangement that began informally. Section 36 is the provision that governs what a trust may do with immovable property: a sale, exchange or gift, and a lease of a building or non-agricultural land for more than three years, require the previous sanction of the Charity Commissioner. Arrangements running for years without sanction are not unusual, and they need to be addressed deliberately — particularly before any redevelopment proposal is entertained, since that is the point at which the whole history gets examined.
Societies, and disputes about who is in office
A great many Ghatkopar bodies are registered societies as well as public trusts, with elections, a members’ register and general body meetings to run. Disputes about the validity of an election or about who is entitled to sign are common, and they are decided on the constitution and the record rather than on who has been acting. See society registration and trustee disputes.
Funding, grants and CSR
Organisations seeking grants or corporate CSR money need NGO DARPAN registration with NITI Aayog, registration under Section 12A and approval under Section 80G, and CSR-1 filing where corporate funds are involved. The obstacle, nine times out of ten, is not the application itself but the Charity Commissioner file behind it — a signatory who is not a recorded trustee, or accounts that cannot be produced for the last three years.
Businesses and GST
The commercial areas around Ghatkopar station and along L. B. S. Marg produce the ordinary run of GST registration, amendment, cancellation and notice work, together with commercial disputes that usually start with a legal notice.
How this works in practice
For institutional matters a first discussion is usually held on the telephone or WhatsApp, documents are then sent electronically, and a meeting at chambers in Malad West is arranged only where it genuinely helps. Attendance at Worli is handled as part of the matter. Where a Ghatkopar enquiry concerns litigation to be conducted in the eastern suburbs, that is discussed openly at the outset, including whether it is better handled by someone practising at that court.
What to send first
- The trust deed or memorandum of association.
- The registration number and the most recent register extract.
- The last audited accounts available, and the year they relate to.
- A list of who has actually been acting as trustee or committee member, with approximate dates.
- Any correspondence already received from the Charity Commissioner’s office or a funder.
Where appearances are made
Office of the Charity Commissioner, Maharashtra, Worli; the Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court, Borivali; the City Civil and Sessions Court, Dindoshi, Goregaon; and the Family Court, Bandra.
Chambers and appointments
Chambers are at 704 Classic Building, Gate No. 8, Malwani MHADA, Malad (West), Mumbai 400095. Consultations are by appointment. To fix a time, telephone or send a message on WhatsApp to +91 99301 50560, or use the contact page.
This page describes general procedure and is published for information only, in keeping with Rule 36 of the Bar Council of India Rules. It is not legal advice and does not solicit work. What applies to a particular matter depends on its own facts.