Table of Contents
Articles
Registration of Associations in Central and Eastern Europe and the Newly Indpendent States: A Survey
Rachel L. Holmes
The Case for Intermediate Sanctions
Milton Cerny
Voluntary Organizations in Europe: The European Convention on Human Rights
Erik Denters and Wino J.M. van Veen
Improving Civil Society in Hungary
Daniel Csanády
El Proyecto de Ley N. 4690/98 (Developing State - NGO Relations in Brazil)
Anna Cynthia Oliveira
NGO Legislation in Georgia
Vasha Salamadze
Reviews
The Non-Profit Handbook (1997-1998 National Edition)
Reviewed by Karla Simon
Handbuch Stiftungen
Edited by Bertelsmann Stiftung
Case Notes
Trustees of Sahebzadi Oalia Kulsum Trust v Controller of Estate Duty [1998] 233 ITR 434
Revenue Commissioners v Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word
Gaudiya Mission v. Kamalaksha DAS Brahmachary
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International Developments:
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Self-Regulation Initiatives
United States - Overview of the Bishop Estate Controversy
United States - Maryland Association of Nonprofits Adopts "The Standards of Excellence"
International Grantmaking
Options for Increasing U.S. Support for Chinese Nonprofit Organizations
Robert A. Boisture
Grantmaking by Private Foundations in the International Arena
Thomas Chomicz
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Case Notes: Trustees of Sahebzadi Oalia Kulsum Trust v Controller of Estate Duty [1998] 233 ITR 434
The Supreme Court of India has held in the case of Trustees of Sahebzadi Oalia Kulsum Trust v Controller of Estate Duty [1998] 233 ITR 434 that a wakf (Islamic trust) created in the State of Hyderabad for the immediate benefit of the settlor's dependants and thereafter for a holy shrine in Iran was valid. The case was litigated to determine whether the trust property should be included in the value of the settlor's estate for the purposes of estate duty (a form of inheritance tax).
The court considered the Mussalman Wakf Validating Act of 1913, which was enacted to override the decision of the Privy Council in Abdul Fata Mahomed Ishak v Russomoy Dhur Chowdhary [1894] 22 IA 76 that a bequest to charity after the extinction of the wakif's (benefactor's) family was too remote and therefore invalid for breach of the rule against perpetual trusts of property. The Act purported to restore Islamic law for Muslims in India but it did not apply to the State of Hyderabad, which was not part of British India. The court held that the validity of a wakf in Hyderabad continued to be governed by accepted principles of Islamic law rather than the Privy Council decision.
In this context the Supreme Court cited with approval the following passage from Mohammedan Law by Syed Ameer Ali: "When a wakf is created constituting the family or descendants of the wakf [sic, for wakif], the recipients of the charity so long as they exist, the poor are expressly or impliedly brought in not for the purpose of making the wakf charitable (for the support of the family and descendants is a part and parcel of the charitable purpose for which the dedication is made), but simply to impart permanency to the endowment. When the wakif's descendants fail, it must come to the poor." Accordingly, applying these principles of Islamic law, the wakf was validly created.