Facts of the Case

This Civil Application was filed within a pending Public Interest Litigation (PIL No. 98 of 2021) concerning the administration of the Shree Sai Baba Sansthan Shirdi. The Sansthan sought the Bombay High Court's permission to implement Resolution No. 434, passed by its Ad-hoc Committee on 03.07.2023, by which the Committee had accepted a quotation from the College of Engineering, Pune (CEOP Technological University, Pune) for Rs. 75 lakh, inclusive of GST, to conduct a technical and cost audit of the New Darshan Queue Complex and the New Educational Complex. The GST-inclusive quotation amount was simply the commercial value of the audit engagement — the application raised no independent question of GST law.

Issues Involved

  1. Whether the Court, exercising oversight over the Sansthan's administration in the pending PIL, should permit implementation of the Ad-hoc Committee's resolution engaging an external agency for a technical and cost audit.

Petitioner's Arguments

  • The Sansthan sought the Court's permission to implement Resolution No. 434, under which the Ad-hoc Committee had already accepted the Rs. 75 lakh (inclusive of GST) quotation from the College of Engineering, Pune for conducting the technical and cost audit of two major construction complexes.

Respondent's Arguments

  • The Government Pleader for the State and counsel for the petitioner in the underlying PIL did not oppose the application; the Court was informed that the Principal District Judge, Ahmednagar — Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee constituted by the High Court — had also accorded his approval to the resolution.

Court Order / Findings

  • Noting that the Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee had already approved the resolution, the Division Bench allowed the application in terms of the prayer clause, thereby permitting implementation of Resolution No. 434 and the engagement of the Pune college for the audit.
  • No independent scrutiny of the GST component of the contract value was undertaken; the order is confined to administrative approval of the audit engagement.

Important Clarification

This order is a trust-administration approval within an ongoing PIL overseeing the Shirdi Sansthan, and has no bearing on GST law or compliance. The reference to a contract value "inclusive of GST" is simply how the audit engagement's commercial terms were expressed, and readers should not treat this as any kind of GST ruling.

Sections Involved

  • Article 226, Constitution of India, 1950 (PIL jurisdiction; trust administration oversight)

Decision – In Favour of

The application was allowed in favour of the Sansthan, permitting implementation of the audit-engagement resolution; no GST question was involved or decided.

Case Details

  • Court: High Court of Judicature of Bombay, Bench at Aurangabad
  • Case No.: Civil Application No. 9628 of 2023 in Public Interest Litigation No. 98 of 2021
  • Coram: Hon'ble Ravindra V. Ghuge, J. and Hon'ble Y. G. Khobragade, J.
  • Date of Order: 11 August 2023

Link to Download the Order

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