by Procedure for Registration of Trust under the Indian Trusts Act,1882
Decide the following:
a) Name of the trust
b) Address of the trust
c) Objects of the trust (Charitable or Religious)
d) One settlor of the trust
e) Two trustees of the trust (minimum)
f) Property of the trust: Movable or immovable property (normally a small amount of cash/cheque is given to be the initial property of the trust, in order to save on the stamp duty).
Prepare a Trust Deed on stamp paper of the requisite value. The rates of stamp duty varies from state to state. Kindly check the current rate of stamp duty applicable in your state.
Requirement for registration of Trust Deed with the Local Registrar under the Indian Trusts Act, 1882:
a) Trust Deed on stamp paper of requisite value.
b) One passport size photograph & copy of the proof of identity of the settlor.
c) One passport size photograph & copy of the proof of identity of each of the two trustees.
d) One passport size photograph & copy of the proof of identity of each of the two witnesses.
e) Signature of settlor on all the pages of the Trust Deed.
t) Witness by two persons on the Trust Deed.
Go to the local Registrar and submit the Trust Deed, along with one photocopy, for registration. The photocopy of the Deed should also contain the signature of settlor on all the pages. At the time of registration, the settlor and two witnesses are required to be personally present, along with their identity proof in the original.
The Registrar retains the photocopy and returns the original registered copy of the Trust Deed.
The Societies Registration Act, 1860
The Societies Registration Act, 1860 is legislation in India which allows the registration of entities generally involved in the benefit of society education, health, employment etc.
The British Indian Empire, with a wish to encourage such activities and to promote the formal organisation of groups of likeminded people, incorporated the Act 21 of 1860, in other words, The Societies Registration Act, 1860 (21 of 1860), which came into force on 21 May 1860. The Act continues until today and being an Act of Parliament, comes under the Right to Information Act, wherein the government is legally responsible to give any information requested by any citizen of India with respect to any society.
Closing of a Registered Society
A society is legally registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. The Indian Societies Registration Act of 1860 was enacted under the British Raj in India, but is largely still in force in India today. It provides for the registration of literary, scientific and charitable societies. Under the Act societies may be formed, by way of a memorandum of association, by any seven or more people associated for any literary, scientific or charitable purpose. The memorandum of association has to be filed with the Registrar of Societies. The memorandum has to contain the name of the society, its objects, and the names, addresses, and occupations of the members of the governing body, by whatever name it may be called, duly signed for consent by all the members forming the society.
Provisions under the Act
Under Section 13 of the Societies Registration Act, 1860; a number of provisions relating to dissolution of a society and adjustments of its affairs are stated. It is stated that Any number not less than three-fifths of the members of any society may decide and determine that it shall be dissolved, and consequently it shall be dissolved without any delay, or at the time then agreed upon by the members, and all necessary steps are to be taken for the disposal and settlement of the property of the society, its claims and liabilities, according to the rules of the said society applicable thereto, if any were made at the time of the registration of the society and if not, then as the governing body shall find a convenient expedient, provided that, in the incident of any dispute or disagreement arising among the said governing body or the members of the society, the adjustment of its affairs shall be referred to the principal Court of original civil jurisdiction of the district in which the chief building of the society is situated and the Court shall make such order in the matter as it shall deem required by law and practically apt. The assent is necessarily required provided that no society shall be dissolved unless three-fifths of the members shall have expressed a wish for such dissolution by their votes delivered in person, or by proxy, at a general meeting convened for the purpose. There is also a concept of Government consent. It is provided in the aforesaid statute that whenever any Government is a member of, or a sponsor or contributor to, or otherwise interested in any society registered under this Act, such society shall not be dissolved without the consent of the Government of the State where the society was registered. There are also several state amendments given under this section.
Purpose of Society Registration
A society registration can be done for the development of fine arts, science, or literature or else for the diffusion of purposeful knowledge or charitable purposes of political education. According to section 20 of the Society Act, 1860, a society registration can be done for the following purposes:
- Promotion of fine arts.
- Diffusion of political education.
- Grant of charitable assistance.
- Promotion of science and literature.
- Creation of military orphan funds.
- Maintenance or foundation of galleries or public museum.
- Maintenance or foundation of reading rooms or libraries.
- Promotion or diffusion or instruction of useful knowledge.
- Collections of natural history.
- Collections of mechanical and philosophical inventions, designs, or instruments.
Registration of a Society in India
A Society can be created by a minimum of 7 or more persons. Apart from persons from India, companies, foreigners, as well as other registered societies can also register for the Memorandum of association of the society.
Similar to Partnership firms, society can also be either unregistered or registered. But, only the registered societies will be able to withstand consigned properties and/or have an ensemble filed against or by the society.
Society registration is maintained by state governments. Thus, the application for society registration must be created to the specific authority of the state, where the registered office of the society is situated.
For Society registration, the establishing members must agree with the name of society first and then prepare for the Memorandum, followed by Rules & Regulations of the society.
Selection of a Name
When selecting a name for society registration, it is vital to understand that according to Society Act, 1860, an identical or similar name of a currently registered society will not be allowed. Moreover, the proposed name shall not suggest for any patronage of the state government or the government of India or fascinate the provisions of the Emblem & Names Act, 1950.
Memorandum of Association
The Memorandum of Association of the society along with Rules & Regulations of society must be signed by every establishing member, witness by Gazetted Officer, Notary Public, Chartered Accountant, Oath Commissioner, Advocate, Magistrate first-class or Chartered Accountant with their official stamping and complete address.
The memorandum must contain the name of the society, the object of the society. Also, it consists of details of members of the society registration along with their names, addresses, designations, and occupations. The following document has to be prepared, submitted and signed for the sake of registration:
- Requesting society registration by providing covering letter, signed by all establishing members.
- Duplicate copy of Memorandum of Association of society along with certified copy.
- Duplicate copy of Rules & Regulations of society along with duplicate copy duly signed by all establishing members.
- Address proof of registered office of society as well as no-objection certificate (NOC) issued by landlord.
- Affidavit avowed by secretary or president of society declaring relationship among subscribers.
- Few minutes of meeting regarding the society registration along with providing some essential documents.
Dissolution of Society by Court
As per the provisions of this act, on the application of the Registrar under section 13A or under section 24 or on an application made by not less than one- tenth of the members of a society registered under this Act, the Court of competent jurisdiction referred to in section 13 may make an order for the dissolution of the society on any of the following grounds, viz.
(a) That the society has contravened any provision of this Act or of any other law for the time being in force and it is just and equitable that the society should be dissolved
(b) That the number of the members of the society is reduced below seven;
(c) That the society has ceased to function for more than three years preceding the date of such application;
(d) That the society is unable to pay its debts or meet its liabilities; or
(e) That the registration of the society has been cancelled under section 12D on the ground that its activities or proposed activities have been or are or will be opposed to public policy.
It has to be noted that when an order for the dissolution of a society is made under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), all necessary steps for the disposal and the settlement of the property of the society, its claims and liabilities and any other adjustment of its affairs take place in manner as the Court may direct.
Matters of profit upon dissolution
Under section 14 of the act, upon the dissolution of the society, no member is entitled to receive any profits. If upon the dissolution of a society registered under this Act there remains, after the satisfaction of all its debts and liabilities, any property whatsoever, the same will not be paid to or disseminated and distributed among the members of the said society or any of them, but is required by law to be given to some other society which is to be determined by the votes of not less than three-fifths of the members present individually or by proxy at the time of the dissolution, or, in default thereof, by such Court as aforesaid. It is important to note here that this clause does not to apply to the Joint-Stock Companies. Provided, however, that this clause shall not apply to any society which has been founded or established by the contributions of share-holders in the nature of a Joint-Stock Company
