In Brief
The appellants, trustees of a religious temple trust registered in 1984, challenged a High Court judgment favoring tenant respondents. The court held that tenants occupying the land on Tillers Day (1 April 1957) became deemed purchasers under the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948. Although the Trust was validly registered as a public religious trust in 1984, such registration could not be used retroactively to divest the tenants of their vested rights. The Court affirmed that 'deemed registration' under the Public Trusts Act applies only to trusts previously registered under specified enactments, not all public trusts. Registration takes effect prospectively from 1984, not from Tillers Day, so it cannot overturn rights that vested 27 years earlier.
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