Now, let us look at the definition of a trust. Many of our organizations are registered as a trust.

There is Section 3 of the Indian Trust Act of 1882. Look at the vintage of some of these acts. Why am I quoting the Indian Trust Act when many of us in Maharashtra are governed by the Bombay Public Trust Act? Because these are some of the curiosities of the law. The term "trust" or "trustee" is nowhere defined under the Bombay Public Trust Act of 1950. It is an omission.

So, what do we do in law when you do not have it in the primary law? You go to a related law. So, you draw the inference from that. Incidentally, the Indian Trust Act applies to private trusts, not to public trusts. Private meaning trusts that are created for the benefit of family members or employees of certain organizations. Sometimes, you even create provident fund trusts; they are also deemed to be registered as per the principles of the Indian Trust Act.

So, Section 3 of the Indian Trust Act, 1882 defines a trust as "an obligation annexed to the ownership of property and arising out of a confidence reposed in and accepted by the owner, or declared and accepted by him for the benefit of another." Look at the confusing language; you cannot make head nor tail out of what is really written.

Basically, what does it speak about? It says that it is an obligation that a trustee voluntarily takes on. It says it is annexed to the ownership of property. Now, the layperson, whenever they think of property, they think in terms of lands and buildings. But property can be a sum of money. Let us say you create a trust with the sum of 500 rupees; it becomes the property of your trust. So property can be movable or immovable.

So, it is an obligation which is annexed to the ownership of property. That means there is a property, which is funds, assets, etc., to which you are as a trustee annexed, and you are accepting the responsibility voluntarily, but not for your personal benefit, for the benefit of another. Who is another? The poor and needy, the visually impaired, whosoever you want.

So, the concept of trust and trusteeship is captured over here. At the end of the day, what is a trustee? A trustee is one who takes on an obligation to manage property. That property legally rests in the trustee as if it belongs to him or her. It must be managed as judiciously as if it is his own, but not for his personal benefit; for the benefit of the beneficiaries as named in your charter. What is your charter? Your trust deed if you are a trust, your memorandum and articles of association if you are a society, or if you are a company. So, that is the concept of what a trust is.