In Brief
Smt. Randhir Kaur gifted valuable school property (4 Kanals 10 Marlas) to Doaba Public School in 1981 for advancing education. In 1988, the school's Principal, Balwant Singh, illegally exchanged this property for inferior unirrigated land in a remote village, transferring it to his own name, without authorization from the Education Society. The donor's heirs sued for declaration that the exchange was void. The trial court upheld their claim, but appellate courts dismissed it, holding the donor had no locus standi after gifting. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that an unauthorized exchange by the Principal in breach of trust was wholly illegal and void, restoring the property to the school's ownership. The Court rejected the appellate courts' reasoning on locus standi.
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