Trustees of a Mumbai trust often ask a simple question and get no clear answer: which office do we actually go to? The Charity Commissioner’s organisation in Maharashtra is arranged by region, and almost everything a trust does in its ordinary life is done before an officer of the region in which the trust is registered — not before the Charity Commissioner personally.
Key facts
- Law
- Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950
- Regional office handles
- Registration (Section 18), inquiry (Section 19), change reports (Section 22), accounts and audit
- Greater Mumbai office
- First floor, Dharmaday Ayukta Bhavan, Sasmira Building, Sasmira Road, Worli, Mumbai 400032; phone 022-24976422. Office details
- Western suburbs
- No separate counter for Malad, Borivali or Andheri; the trust’s region is fixed at registration
- Other applications
- Section 36 property sanctions and Section 51 consent go to the authorities named in those sections
- Carry
- Registration number, recent register extract, trust deed, two sets of papers; keep the stamped acknowledgement
The structure, in outline
The Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950 is administered by the Charity Commissioner for the state, with Joint, Deputy and Assistant Charity Commissioners exercising powers at regional level. The officer named in the provisions trustees deal with most often — registration under Section 18, the inquiry under Section 19, change reports under Section 22 — is the Deputy or Assistant Charity Commissioner of the region.
That is why the correct answer to “where do we file?” is almost always the regional office, and why the region is fixed at the time of registration: Section 19 requires the officer to determine, among other things, where the trust is situated.
What that means for a trust in Malad or the western suburbs
A trust whose principal office is in Greater Mumbai belongs to the Greater Mumbai region, and its file sits with the regional office rather than with any office closer to the trust’s own address. There is no separate counter for Malad, Borivali or Andheri; a trust in the western suburbs deals with the same regional office as a trust in the island city. There is more on the office and what it handles on the Charity Commissioner’s Mumbai office page.
Two practical consequences follow. First, the registration number allotted to the trust identifies the region, and it should be quoted on everything — applications, correspondence, covering letters. Second, a trust that moves its office across a regional boundary has both a change to report under Section 22 and a question about which office holds the file afterwards; that is worth sorting out deliberately rather than discovering it at the counter.
What is dealt with where
- Registration of a new trust, and the inquiry that follows — regional office.
- Change reports recording new trustees, resignations, deaths, property and address changes — regional office. See the change report page.
- Annual accounts and audit statements — filed with the regional office.
- Applications under Section 36 for sanction to sell, exchange, gift or lease trust property — these engage the sanctioning authority under that section; see the Section 36 page.
- Applications for consent to file a suit about the trust — these go to the Charity Commissioner under Section 51.
- Contested matters — objections to a change report, disputes about who is in office, proceedings concerning a trustee’s conduct — are heard by the officer seised of them, on evidence, like any other quasi-judicial proceeding.
Going in person, and going online
A good deal of the department’s work has moved to its online portal over the last several years, and what can be done electronically has expanded steadily — searching the register, generating certain applications, tracking a matter. What is available online changes from time to time, and some steps still call for physical filing or an appearance. It is worth checking the current position before assuming either that everything can be done from a desk, or that nothing can.
Preparing for a visit
- Carry the trust’s registration number and a recent register extract.
- Carry the trust deed, and know which clause you are relying on.
- Bring two sets of anything being filed, and get the acknowledgement stamped on your copy. That acknowledgement is what proves the date of filing, which matters when a 90-day period is in issue.
- If the matter has a history — earlier reports, objections, previous orders — carry that file too. Officers deal with a large volume of matters and cannot be expected to reconstruct the background.
- If the trust is behind on its accounts and filings, expect that to be raised whatever you have come about, and be ready with a plan for putting it right.
A word on expectations
These offices handle an enormous number of trusts, and matters move at the pace the process allows. The things that genuinely speed a matter up are unglamorous: complete papers, a clear covering note that identifies the provision relied on, prompt replies to queries, and a compliance record that does not raise questions of its own. Trusts that keep their register entries and accounts current find that everything else they need — a sanction, an extract, a consent — becomes considerably easier to obtain.
This note sets out general information about procedure under the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950. It is not legal advice, and the position in any particular matter depends on its own facts and on the law as it stands at the time. Statutory references should be checked against the current text of the Act and Rules.
Related service: Charity Commissioner Proceedings in Mumbai
See also: Mosque or madrasa: Waqf Board or Charity Commissioner?.