1[(1) The Charity Commissioner, the Deputy or Assistant Charity Commissioner or any officer authorised by the State Government by a general or special order shall have power-
(a) to enter on and inspect or cause to be entered on and inspected any property, belonging to a public trust;
2[(b) to call for and inspect any proceedings of the trustees of any public trust, and any book of accounts or document in the possession or under the control of the trustees or any person connected with the trust;]
(c) to call for any return, statement, account or report which he may think fit from the trustees or any person connected with a public trust;
3[(d) to get the explanation of the trustee or any person connected with the public trust and reduce or cause to be reduced to writing any statement made by him :]
Provided that, in entering upon any property belonging to the public trust the officers making the entry shall give reasonable notice to the trustee and shall have due regard to the religious practices or usages of the trust.
4[(2) It shall be the duty of every trustee to afford all reasonable facilities to any officer exercising any of the powers under sub-section (1) and the trustees or 5[any person connected with the public trust] shall comply with any order made or direction issued by such officer in exercise of the power conferred upon him by or under sub-section (1)].
6[(3) If on inspection of the affairs of a public trust under this section, it is noticed by the Deputy or Assistant Charity Commissioner or the officer authorised under sub-section (1) that there is a loss caused to the public trust on account of gross negligence, breach of trust, misapplication or misconduct on the part of a trustee or any person connected with the trust, the Deputy or Assistant Charity Commissioner may submit a report thereof to the Charity Commissioner; and the officer so authorised, to the Deputy or Assistant Charity Commissioner.]
(a) to enter on and inspect or cause to be entered on and inspected any property, belonging to a public trust;
2[(b) to call for and inspect any proceedings of the trustees of any public trust, and any book of accounts or document in the possession or under the control of the trustees or any person connected with the trust;]
(c) to call for any return, statement, account or report which he may think fit from the trustees or any person connected with a public trust;
3[(d) to get the explanation of the trustee or any person connected with the public trust and reduce or cause to be reduced to writing any statement made by him :]
Provided that, in entering upon any property belonging to the public trust the officers making the entry shall give reasonable notice to the trustee and shall have due regard to the religious practices or usages of the trust.
4[(2) It shall be the duty of every trustee to afford all reasonable facilities to any officer exercising any of the powers under sub-section (1) and the trustees or 5[any person connected with the public trust] shall comply with any order made or direction issued by such officer in exercise of the power conferred upon him by or under sub-section (1)].
6[(3) If on inspection of the affairs of a public trust under this section, it is noticed by the Deputy or Assistant Charity Commissioner or the officer authorised under sub-section (1) that there is a loss caused to the public trust on account of gross negligence, breach of trust, misapplication or misconduct on the part of a trustee or any person connected with the trust, the Deputy or Assistant Charity Commissioner may submit a report thereof to the Charity Commissioner; and the officer so authorised, to the Deputy or Assistant Charity Commissioner.]
Source footnotes
1. Section 37 was re-numbered as sub-section (1) of that section by Bom. 6 of 1960, s. 21.2. Clause (b) was substituted by Mah. 20 of 1971, s. 24 (1)(a).
3. Clause (d) was inserted by Mah. 20 of 197, s. 24 (1)(d).
4. This sub-section was added by Bom. 6 of 1960, s. 21.
5. These words were substituted for the words "any other person in charge of the public trust" by Mah. 20 of 1971, s. 24 (2).
6. Sub-section (3) was added, Mah. 20 of 1971, s. 24 (3).
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More sections of this act
Section 1 · Short title, extent, operation and application.Section 2 · Definitions.Section 2A · Deleted.Section 3 · Charity Commissioner.Section 3A · Joint Charity Commissioners.Section 4 · Qualifications for appointment of Charity Commissioner and Joint Charity Commissioner.Section 5 · Deputy and Assistant Charity Commissioners.Section 6 · Subordinate officers.India Code, Government of India. Text fetched 11 Oct 2026. Check the linked official text and subsequent notifications when applying a provision.