New Delhi: The Supreme Court has allowed the Maharwal Khewaji Trust, which oversees the Rs 20,000-crore property of the erstwhile princely state of Faridkot, to operate bank accounts to pay wages to staff and meet costs on utilities bills and taxes and so on.
In June, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had decided that the will of Harinder Singh Brar, the final ruler of the erstwhile regal state, was formed in the favour of Maharwal Khewaji Trust on June 1, 1982.
The High Court had said that his two daughters, Maharani Deepinder Kaur and Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, were qualified to inherit and share the properties.
The trust had prompted the Supreme Court against this order. The top court had demanded a status quo and permitted the trust to proceed as the caretaker.
Previous Friday, a bench including Justices UU Lalit and S Ravindra Bhat stated, “Since the activities undertaken by the Trust are in the nature of running a hospital and other philanthropic causes, at this stage, we permit the applicant Trust to operate the accounts mentioned in Paragraph 12 of the application strictly for the purposes enumerated at serial numbers 2 to 7 in Paragraph 8 of the application.”
The costs include those on wages, sums due to the security agency, utility charges, advance tax, and GST payments, and the statutory payments towards ESI and EPF.
The bench ordered that details of all costs acquired just as credits received should be put before it intermittently.
The top court stated, “The first report shall be filed on or before October 30; and the second report thereafter be submitted on or before November 30,”
Senior Advocates Krishnan Venugopal and V Giri opposed the prayer and presented that for the sake of meeting the invest towards satisfying the goals of the Trust, the sums are being misused and, accordingly, the relief prayed for should not be allowed.
The top court’s command came on an interlocutory application registered by Trust that during the pendency of these petitions it might be allowed to operate its bank accounts.
Senior Advocates Dhruv Mehta and Abhishek Manu Singhvi, showing up for the candidate, presented that though there was no express order of injunction, the banks concerned have solidified the Trust accounts, because of which its exercises are getting seriously prejudiced. They encouraged the top court to permit these accounts to be operated during the pendency of petitions.
The top court likewise ordered the bank managers concerned to submit statements of accounts from June 1 to October 30. The top court filed the issue for disposal on November 4.
