(Act XXI of 1860)
[21 May 1860]
An Act for the Registration of Literary,
Preamble.− WHEREAS it is expedient that provision should be
made for improving the legal condition of societies established for the
promotion of literature, science, or the fine arts, or for the diffusion of
useful knowledge, [2][3][the diffusion of political education] or for charitable
purposes; it is enacted as follows:-
1. Societies
formed by memorandum of association and registration.− Any seven or more
persons associated for any literary, scientific or charitable purpose, or for
any such purpose as is described in section 20 of this Act, may by subscribing
their names to a memorandum of association and filing the same with the
Registrar of Joint-stock Companies [3][4][* * *] form themselves into a society under this
Act.
2. Memorandum of association.− The memorandum of association shall contain
the following things (that is to say)−
the
name of the society:
the
objects of the society:
the names, addresses, and occupations of
the governors, council, directors, committee or other governing body to whom,
by the rules of the society, the management of its affairs is entrusted.
A
copy of the rules and regulations of the society, certified to be a correct
copy by not less than three of the members of the governing body, shall be
filed with the memorandum of association.
[4][5][3. Registration fee.− Upon such
memorandum and certified copy being filed, the Registrar shall certify under
his hand that the Society is registered under this Act. There shall be paid to
the Registrar for every such registration such fee as the Provincial Government
may direct, and all fees so paid shall be accounted for to the Provincial
Government.]
4. Annual list of managing body to be
filed.− Once in every year,
on or before the fourteenth day succeeding the day on which, according to the
rules of the society, the annual general meeting of the society is held, or, if
the rules do not provide for an annual general meeting, in the month of
January, a list shall be filed with the Registrar of Joint-stock Companies of
the names, addresses and occupations of the governors, council, directors,
committee or other governing body then entrusted with the management of the
affairs of the society.
5. Property of society how vested.− The property, movable and immovable,
belonging to a society registered under this Act, if not vested in trustees,
shall be deemed to be vested, for the time being, in the governing body of such
society, and in all proceedings, civil and criminal, may be described as the
property of the governing body of such society by their proper title.
6. Suits by and against societies.− Every
society registered under this Act may sue or be sued in the name of the
president, chairman, or principal secretary, or trustees, as shall be
determined by the rules and regulations of the society, and, in default of such
determination, in the name of such person as shall be appointed by the
governing body for the occasion:
Provided that it shall be competent for any person having
a claim or demand against the society, to sue the president or chairman, or
principal secretary or the trustees thereof, if on application to the governing
body some other officer or person be not nominated to be the defendant.
7. Suits not to abate.− No suit or proceeding in any Civil Court
shall abate or discontinue by reason of the person by or against whom such suit
or proceedings shall have been brought or continued, dying or ceasing to fill
the character in the name whereof he shall have sued or been sued, but the same
suit or proceedings shall be continued in the name of or against the successor
of such person.
8. Enforcement of judgment against
society.− If a judgment
shall be recovered against the person or officer named on behalf of the
society, such judgment shall not be put in force against the property, movable
or immovable, or against the body of such person or officer, but against the
property of the society.
The
application for execution shall set forth the judgment, the fact of the party
against whom it shall have been recovered having sued or having been sued, as
the case may be, on behalf of the society only, and shall require to have the
judgment enforced against the property of the society.
9. Recovery of penalty accruing under
bye-law.− Whenever by any
bye-law duly made in accordance with the rules and regulations of the society,
or, if the rules do not provide for the making of bye-laws, by any bye-law made
at a general meeting of the members of the society convened for the purpose
(for the making of which the concurrent votes of three-fifths of the members
present at such meeting shall be necessary), any pecuniary penalty is imposed
for the breach of any rule or bye-law of the society, such penalty, when
accrued, may be recovered in any Court having jurisdiction where the defendant
shall reside, or the society shall be situate, as the governing body thereof
shall deem expedient.
10. Members
liable to be sued as strangers – Recovery by successful defendant of costs
adjudged.− Any member who
may be in arrear of a subscription which, according to the rules of the society
he is bound to pay, or who shall possess himself of or detain any property of
the society in a manner or for a time contrary to such rules, or shall injure
or destroy any property of the society, may be sued for such arrear or for the
damage accruing from such detention, injury or destruction of property in the
manner hereinbefore provided.
But
if the defendant shall be successful in any suit or other proceeding brought
against him at the instance of the society, and shall be adjudged to recover
his costs, he may elect to proceed to recover the same from the officer in
whose name the suit shall be brought, or from the society, and in the latter
case shall have process against the property of the said society in the manner
above described.
11. Members guilty of offences punishable as
strangers.− Any member of the society who shall steal, purloin or embezzle any
money or other property, or willfully and maliciously destroy or injure any
property of such society, or shall forge any deed, bond, security for money,
receipt, or other instrument, whereby the funds of the society may be exposed
to loss, shall be subject to the same prosecution, and, if convicted, shall be
liable to be punished in like manner as any person not a member would be
subject and liable to in respect of the like offence.
12. Societies enabled to alter, extend or abridge
their purposes.− Whenever it shall appear to the governing body of any society
registered under this Act, which has been established for any particular
purpose or purposes, that it is advisable to alter, extend or abridge such
purpose to or for other purposes within the meaning of this Act, or to
amalgamate such society either wholly or partially with any other society, such
governing body may submit the proposition to the members of the society in a
written or printed report and may convene a special meeting for the
consideration thereof according to the regulations of the society.
But no such proposition shall be carried into effect
unless such report shall have been delivered or sent by post to every member of
the society ten days previous to the special meeting convened by the governing
body for the consideration thereof, nor unless such proposition shall have been
agreed to by the votes of three-fifths of the members delivered in person or by
proxy, and confirmed by the votes of three-fifths of the members present at a
second special meeting convened by the governing body at an interval of one
month after the former meeting.
13. Provision
for dissolution of societies and adjustment of their affairs − Assent required
− Government consent.− Any number
not less than three-fifths of the members of any society may determine that it
shall be dissolved, and thereupon it shall be dissolved forthwith, or at the
time then agreed upon, and all necessary steps shall 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, and, if
not, then as the governing body shall find expedient, provided that, in the
event of any dispute 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 situate; and the Court shall make such order in the
matter as it shall deem requisite:
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:
Provided that [5][6][whenever any Government] is a member of or a contributor
to, or otherwise interested in, any society registered under this Act, such
society shall not be dissolved [6][7][without the consent of the Government of the Province of
registration].
14. Upon
a dissolution no member to receive profit − Clause not to apply to joint-stock
companies.− If upon the
dissolution of any society registered under this Act there shall remain after
the satisfaction of all its debts and liabilities any property whatsoever, the
same shall not be paid to or distributed among the members of the said society
or any of them, but shall be given to some other society, to be determined by
the votes of not less than three-fifths of the members present personally or by
proxy at the time of dissolution, or in default thereof, by such Court as
aforesaid:
Provided,
however, that this clause shall not apply to any society which shall have been
founded or established by the contributions of shareholders in the nature of a
Joint-stock Company.
15. Member defined − Disqualified members.− For the purposes of
this Act a member of a society shall be a person who, having been admitted
therein according to the rules and regulations thereof, shall have paid a
subscription or shall have signed the roll or list of members thereof, and
shall not have resigned in accordance with such rules and regulations; but in
all proceedings under this Act no person shall be entitled to vote or to be
counted as a member whose subscription at the time shall have been in arrear
for a period exceeding three months.
16. Governing
body defined.− The governing
body of the society shall be the governors, council, directors, committee,
trustees or other body to whom by the rules and regulations of the society the
management of its affairs is entrusted.
[7][8][16-A. Supersession of governing body of a society.− (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in
the memorandum of association, rules or regulations of a society registered
under this Act, if, after such inquiry as may be necessary, the Provincial
Government is of the opinion that the governing body of the society −
(a) is unable to discharge or persistently fails in discharging its
duties, or
(b) is unable to administer its affairs or meet its financial
obligations, or
(c) generally acts in a manner contrary to public interest or the
interests of the members of the society,
the Provincial Government may, by
notification in the Official Gazette, declare the governing body to be
superseded for such period, not exceeding one year, as may be specified in the
notification.
[8][9][Provided that the declaration shall not be
made without giving to the society to be affected thereby an opportunity of
being heard.]
(2) On the publication of a notification
under sub-section (1),−
(a) the office-bearers and other members of the
governing body shall cease to hold office; and
(b) all functions of the governing body shall,
during the period of supersession, be performed by a governing body constituted
by the Provincial Government from among the members of the society.
(3) On the expiry of the period of
supersession, the governing body of the society shall be reconstituted in
accordance with its memorandum of association, rules and regulations.]
17. Registration of societies formed before Act −
Assent required.− Any company or society established for a literary, scientific or
charitable purpose, and registered under [9][10]Act XLIII of 1850, or any such society
established and constituted previously to the passing of this Act but not
registered under the said [10][11]Act XLIII of 1850, may at any time hereafter be
registered as a society under this Act; subject to the proviso that no such
company or society shall be registered under this Act unless an assent to its
being so registered has been given by three-fifths of the members present
personally, or by proxy, at some general meeting convened for that purpose by
the governing body.
In
the case of a company or society registered under [11][12]Act XLIII of 1850, the directors shall be
deemed to be such governing body.
In
the case of a society not so registered, if no such body shall have been
constituted on the establishment of the society, it shall be competent for the
members thereof, upon due notice, to create for itself a governing body to act
for the society thenceforth.
18. Such societies to file memorandum, etc.,
with Registrar of Joint-Stock Companies.− In order to any such society as is mentioned in
the last preceding section obtaining registry under this Act, it shall be
sufficient that the governing body file with the Registrar of Joint-stock
Companies
[12][13][* * *] a memorandum showing the name of the society, the objects of the society, and the names, addresses and occupations of the governing body, together with a copy of the rules and regulations of the society certified as provided in section 2, and a copy of the report of the proceedings of the general meeting at which the registration was resolved on.
[12][13][* * *] a memorandum showing the name of the society, the objects of the society, and the names, addresses and occupations of the governing body, together with a copy of the rules and regulations of the society certified as provided in section 2, and a copy of the report of the proceedings of the general meeting at which the registration was resolved on.
19. Inspection
of documents − Certified Copies.− Any person may inspect all documents filed with the registrar under
this Act on payment of a fee of one rupee for each inspection, and any person
may require a copy or extract of any document or any part of any document, to
be certified by the registrar, on payment of two annas for every hundred words
of such copy or extract; and such certified copy shall be prima facie evidence of the matters therein contained in all legal
proceedings whatever.
20. To
what societies Act applies.−
The following societies may be registered under this Act:-
Charitable societies, [13][14][* * *] societies established for the promotion of
science, literature, or the fine arts, for instruction, the diffusion of useful
knowledge, [14][15][the diffusion of political education], the
foundation or maintenance of libraries or reading rooms for general use among
the members or open to the public, or public museums and galleries of painting
and other works of art, collections of natural history, mechanical and
philosophical inventions, instruments, or designs.
[15][16][21. Registration
of Deeni Madrassah. (1) A
Deeni Madrassah by whatsoever name called shall not be established or operated
without being registered as a society under this Act.
(2) The Deeni Madrassah
shall, in addition to the other provisions of this Act, be subject to the
following conditions:
(a) to
submit annual report of its activities and performance to the Registrar;
(b) to
maintain accounts of its expenses and receipts and annually submit the report
to the Registrar; and
(c) to cause to be carried out audit of its
accounts by an Auditor and annually submit its audited accounts to the
Registrar.
(3) No Deeni Madrassah shall teach or publish
any literature which promotes militancy or spreads sectarian hatred and religious
hostility.
Explanation. In this section,
“Deeni Madrassah” means a religious institution established or operated
primarily for the purpose of imparting religious education whether providing
boarding and lodging facilities or not and includes a Jamia, Dar-ul-uloom,
School, College, University, or any other religious institution, called by
whatsoever name, set up for the aforesaid purpose.]
The Act (with the exception
of the first four sections) is based on Literary and Scientific Institutions
Act, 1854.
It had been
declared to be in force in all the Provinces and the Capital of the Federation,
except the Scheduled Districts, by s. 3 of the Laws Local Extent Act, 1874 (15
of 1874).
It had been declared by Notification under
s. 3 (a) of the Scheduled Districts Act, 1874 (14 of 1874), to be in force in
the Scheduled Districts; namely − Hazara, Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu, Dera Ismail
Khan and Dera Ghazi Khan. [Portions of
the Districts of Hazara, Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan and Dera Ghazi Khan and the
Districts of Peshawar and Kohat now form the N.W.F.P., see Gazette of
India, 1901, Pt. I, p. 867, and ibid.,
1902, Pt. I, p.575].
[3][4]The
words and figures “under Act 19 of 1857” repealed by the Repealing Act, 1874
(16 of 1874).
[5][6]Substituted by the Government
of India (Adaptation of Indian Laws) Order, 1937, as amended by the Government
of India (Adaptation of Indian Laws) Supplementary Order, 1937 for “whenever
the Government.”
[7][8]Added by the Societies
Registration (West Pakistan Amendment) Ordinance, 1962 (IX of 1962), and
substituted by the Conformity with Fundamental Rights (Punjab Amendment of
Laws) Act, 1976 (IX of 1976).
[12][13]The
words and figures “under Act 19 of 1857,” repealed by the Repealing Act, 1874
(16 of 1874).
[13][14]The
words “the military orphan funds or societies established at the several
presidencies of India” omitted by the Adaptation of Central Acts and Ordinances
Order, 1949 (G.G.O. 4 of 1949).
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