Wanchoo, J. - (1.) This is a second appeal by Sri Ram Janki through Baba Tribeni Das & another. The appellants were defts. in the suit which was brought by the plff. resps. The plffs. sued for cancellation of a deed of gift & for possession of the property comprised in that deed. This deed was executed by one Ram Nandan on 2-7-1942. in respect of certain property situate in village Daunri. The properties were gifted to the idola of Sri Ram Janki installed in a temple in village Daunri which is under the management of Baba Tribeni Das. The donor provided that Baba Tri beni Das would take possession of the property, manage it in the way he liked & after meeting the expenses of management, would spend the profits on the expenses of the idols. The property consisted of fixed-rate tenancy, a grove, a house & some occupancy tenancy. The deed was assailed on a number of grounds. The trial Court dismissed the suit. The lower appellate Court, however, allowed the appeal on the ground that in view of Section 12, United Provinces Regulation of Agricultural Credit Act, No. XIV [14] of 1940, a gift of that part of the land which was fixed-rate tenancy was not valid. It, therefore, passed a decree to the effect that the gift-deed was invalid with respect to the fixed rate tenancy, but was valid with regard to the other items. The defts. have come up in second appeal to this Court.
(2.) The argument, on behalf of the applts. before me, is two-fold. In the first place, it has been urged that in view of Section 2, Sub-section (9) of U. P. Act No. XIV [14] of 1940, Section 12 would not apply to this deed of gift & therefore, the gift of fixed rate tenancy was also valid. In the alternative, it has been urged that even if it be held that the gift-deed was invalid with respect to the fixed-rate tenancy, the decree of the lower appellate Court is incorrect inasmuch as it has overlooked the provisions of Section 25 of the Act.
(3.) Section 12 of the said Act reads as follows: "No proprietor shall mortgage or lease or make a permanent alienation of the whole or any part of his protected land or alienate or charge the produce of such land otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this Act." Section 2, Sub-section (9) runs as under: "'Permanent alienation" means a transfer by sale, exchange, or gift but does not include a transfer by gift for a charitable purpose or a transfer by will." The argument, on behalf of the appellants, is that this is a transfer by gift for a charitable purpose & therefore, does not come within the definition of 'permanent alienation' & consequently Section 12, has no application to this deed of gift. On the other hand, it has been argued, on behalf of the plffs-respondents, that the mere fact that the gift was made in favour of certain idols does not necessarily mean that it was for a charitable purpose, though it may be for a religious purpose. The question, therefore, that requires determination is whether a gift in favour of an idol like the present one is for a charitable purpose.;