BUDDHIST TEMPORALITIES

(1) The management of the property belonging to every temple not exempted from the operation of this subsection shall be vested in a person or persons duly appointed trustee under the provisions of this Ordinance.

(2) The management of the property belonging to every temple exempted from the operation of the last preceding subsection but not exempted from the operation of the entire Ordinance shall be vested in the viharadhipati of such temple, hereinafter referred to as the “controlling viharadhipati”.

(1) The advisory board referred to in section 5 shall consist of five members each appointed by the Minister to hold office for a period not exceeding five years, provided that two of such members shall be selected from persons who at the time of their appointment are Members of Parliament.

(2) The said board may for the purposes of any meeting co-opt as members not more than two persons who shall for such meeting possess all the rights of persons duly appointed under subsection (1).

(3) The Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs shall be the chairman of the said board and for the transaction of business its quorum shall be three.

(4) All matters on which the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs is by regulations under this Ordinance required to consult the said board shall be decided at a meeting by a majority of those present and voting: Provided that when the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs is unable to abide by such decision such matter shall within one month of such decision be reported by him to the Minister whose decision thereon shall be final.

(1) The trustee for the Dalada Maligawa shall be the Diyawadana Nilame.

(2) Whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of the Diyawadana Nilame the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs shall within three months of such occurrence summon to a meeting at Kandy”

(3)

(1) The trustee for a dewale for which it has been customary to appoint a Basnayake Nilame shall be the Basnayake Nilame thereof. The trustee for every other dewale shall be a person appointed by the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs.

(2) Whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of a Basnayake Nilame the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs shall within three months of such occurrence summon to a meeting at a place within the administrative district in which such dewale is situated”

(3)

(1) The trustee for the Atamasthana the shall be the Atamasthana Committee which shall consist of three persons each of whom shall possess the qualifications of a trustee and hold office on like terms. The said committee shall elect one of their number as chairman, its quorum shall be two and in the case of an equal division of votes at a meeting the chairman shall have a second or casting vote.

(2) At the commencement of this Ordinance the Public Trustee shall call upon the following persons or groups (of persons respectively), namely:”

(1) The trustee for every temple which is not exempted from the operation of section 4 (1) may if no other special provision is made under this Ordinance for his appointment be nominated by the viharadhipati of such temple who shall thereupon report such nomination forthwith to the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs. And whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of trustee for any such temple a trustee shall be similarly nominated and reported within one month of the occurrence of the vacancy.

(2) This section shall not extend to the viharadhipati of any of the individual temples which constitute the Atamasthana, or any viharadhipati who has been removed from the office of trustee under section 15 (2).

(1) Whenever a person is entitled to nominate a trustee under sections 9 or 10 it shall be lawful for him to nominate himself as such trustee unless he has been removed from the office of trustee under section 15 (2) or is disqualified from being a trustee by reason of section 14 :

Provided that the head of the Nuwarawewa family may nominate himself a member of the Atamasthana Committee notwithstanding that he is in the Government service.

(2) Whenever a nomination is duly made under sections 9 or 10 and reported to the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs it shall be the duty of the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs to forthwith issue a letter of appointment to the person so nominated unless such appointment would contravene the provisions of this Ordinance.

(3)

(a) the period of office of a Diyawadana Nilame shall be ten years; and

(b) the period of office of a Basnayake Nilame may be extended by the President, if he is of opinion that it will be conducive to the efficient management of the property of a temple, for a period of one year at a time, so however, that the aggregate of such periods shall not exceed two years.

(1) Subject to the express provisions of this Ordinance all trustees shall, before entering upon or carrying on their duties, give such security for the due exercise and performance of their powers, duties, and responsibilities under this Ordinance as the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs shall in each case require:

Provided always that if any trustee is a bhikkhu the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs shall not require him to give his own personal security, but shall require him to provide one or more sufficient sureties in his place.

(2) Any trustee who exercises or performs or attempts to exercise or perform, any such power, duty, or responsibility in contravention of the provisions of the last preceding subsection shall be guilty of an offence, and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred rupees for each such contravention.

(3) Any trustee who does not give security as in this section provided within three months of the commencement of this Ordinance or of his appointment, or within such further time as the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs may in any particular case direct, shall be deemed to have vacated his office.

(a) except in the case of a bhikkhu, unless he is the owner of immovable property of the value (after allowing for any mortgage debts thereon) of not less than one thousand rupees, or is in receipt of a clear annual income of not less than five hundred rupees;

(b) if he has been convicted of theft, fraud, forgery, perjury or other infamous crime such conviction not having been subsequently reversed in appeal, and such person’s disqualification on account of such conviction not having been removed by an order of the President;

(bb) if he is disqualified, by or under the provisions of any written law, from practicing or engaging in any profession, vocation or trade;

(c) if he is employed in the Government service;

” (cc) if he is elected as a Member of Parliament, a member of a Provincial Council, or a member of a local authority;

(d) if he is a paraveni or maruvena tenant of the temple, or a lessee of any land of the temple except in the case of a viharadhipati who became such tenant or lessee by inheritance;

(e) except with the approval of the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs if he is over seventy years of age:

Provided always that if a suitable candidate possessed of the above qualifications cannot be found, the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs may, in the case of a vihare or dagoba, appoint any person nominated by the viharadhipati, though not so qualified.

(1) On the complaint of any person interested or on his own motion the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs shall have power to hold an inquiry into any alleged misfeasance, breach of trust or neglect of duty committed by any trustee or controlling viharadhipati in respect of property belonging to his temple and if at the conclusion of any such inquiry into the conduct of a trustee the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs is of opinion that proceedings should be taken for his dismissal it shall be competent for the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs as a preliminary to suspend such trustee, to frame charges in writing against him and to call upon him to answer thereto.

(2) The Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs or any person interested in a temple may, without joining as plaintiff any of the other persons interested therein, sue before the court having jurisdiction for the area within which such temple is situated the trustee or controlling viharadhipati of such temple for any alleged misfeasance, breach of trust or neglect of duty committed by such trustee or controlling viharadhipati in respect of property belonging to such temple; and such court may after trial”

(3) Any person who has a right of attendance at any temple or who has been in the habit of attending at the performance of the worship at any temple shall be deemed to be a person interested in such temple within the meaning of this section.

(4) Proceedings may be taken under this section in respect of every alleged misfeasance, breach of trust or neglect of duty by any trustee or Viharadhipathi whether committed before or after the commencement of this Ordinance and in respect of such proceedings, the Public Trustee shall have all the powers vested in the Public Trustee for the investigation of the conditions and accounts of trusts by the Public Trustee Ordinance, as amended from time to time.

(1) In the case of the refusal to accept office, death, vacation of office, incapacity, disqualification, resignation, suspension, dismissal or insolvency of any trustee, it shall be competent for the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs to make provisional arrangements for the performance of the duties of the office pending the appointment of a successor, and any person who may be provisionally appointed to act as trustee shall have all the powers and be liable to all the responsibilities and duties of a trustee appointed under this Ordinance.

(2) In the case of the departure of a trustee from Sri Lanka the person nominated by the trustee in writing shall act for such trustee on such trustee’s responsibility. Such nomination shall be reported forthwith to the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs.

(3) In the case of the appointment or nomination of a person to act for the Diyawadana Nilame, the appointment or nomination shall be subject to the approval of the Mahanayaka Theras of Malwatta Vihare and of Asgiriya Vihare.

(1) In the case of temples in respect of which the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs may by writing under his hand so direct, all issues, rents, moneys, profits, and offerings received by the trustee thereof, for or on its behalf shall be deposited in the National Savings Bank or in a bank approved by the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs in a separate account in the name of the temple.

(2) The bank pass books of such account shall be open to the inspection of the auditor mentioned in section 38 of this Ordinance or of any officer designated by the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs at any time.

(3) No such trustee shall retain in his hand any sum exceeding one hundred rupees, save with the permission in writing of the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs.

(a) the proper repair and furnishing of such temple and the upkeep of the roads and buildings belonging thereto: Provided that where a vihare and a dewale are in one and the same premises, the funds of either may be used for repairs, extensions to and improvements of the other;

(b) the maintenance of the bhikkhus and ministerial officers attached to such temple;

(c) the due performance of religious worship and such customary ceremonies as heretofore maintained, in, or by, or in connexion with such temple;

(d) the promotion of education;

(e) the relief of the poor in the case of a dewale or kovila, and the customary hospitality to bhikkhus and others in the case of a vihare;

(f) the payment of compensation under sections 28 and 31 and of all legal expenses properly incurred in carrying out the provisions of this Ordinance;

(g) the payment of such share of the expenses incurred or to be incurred in carrying out the provisions of this Ordinance as shall be determined by the Minister with the concurrence of the Minister in charge of the subject of Finance;

(h) the remuneration of trustees and the payment of expenses incurred by them in carrying out the provisions of this Ordinance; and

(i) such other purposes as may be sanctioned by the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs.

(1) Whenever a paraveni pangu tenant’s interest in any land held of a temple is transferred it shall be the duty of the transferee within one month of such transfer to send a written notice thereof in duplicate to the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs.

(2) The Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs shall thereupon”

(3) If any transferee fails to comply with the requirements of subsection (1) he shall be guilty of an offence and be liable on summary conviction to a fine of five hundred rupees or in default six months’ simple imprisonment.

(1) Whenever the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs is satisfied that any immovable property belonging to any temple other than a paraveni pangu has been before the commencement of this Ordinance mortgaged, sold, or otherwise alienated to the detriment of such temple, or has been thereafter mortgaged, sold, or otherwise alienated contrary to the provisions of this Ordinance, it shall be the duty of the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs to direct the trustee, or the controlling viharadhipati, to institute legal proceedings to set aside such mortgage, sale, or alienation, and to recover possession of such property:

Provided that in the absence of collusion between the parties the court in setting aside any mortgage, sale, or alienation shall award to the mortgagee, vendee, or alienee compensation for any permanent improvements made by him to or upon such property.

(2) If any such trustee or controlling viharadhipati refuses, neglects or delays in taking or prosecuting such proceedings, the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs may authorize in writing any other person to do so.

(1) It shall be lawful for a trustee or controlling viharadhipati from time to time and for such rent and on such conditions as he shall deem reasonable to lease all or any of the lands belonging to his temple but except in the case of a lease for not more than one year of land worth not more than five hundred rupees or not more than five acres in extent, such leases shall be subject to the following preliminary formalities:”

(2) No land belonging to a temple which is leased under the provisions of this Ordinance shall be used for any purpose which is opposed to the principles of Buddhism.

(3) No lease in any case shall be for a period exceeding ninety-nine years, and in all cases of leases for a period exceeding thirty years, a covenant shall be inserted therein providing for the revision of the rent at every period of ten years from the date of the commencement of the lease.

(4) No trustee or other person holding any office under the provisions of this Ordinance shall be granted the lease of any land or building belonging to any temple in respect of which he holds such office or is trustee.

(5) In all cases where the sanction of the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs is not required, the name and extent of the land leased, together with the amount of the rent and conditions, shall be reported within one month of the granting of the lease by the trustee or controlling viharadhipati to the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs.

(6) All leases made in contravention of any of the provisions of this Ordinance shall be null and void and of no effect whatsoever in law.

(1) Whenever it is proved to the satisfaction of a competent court that”

(2) An application under the preceding subsection may be made by summary procedure, provided that the court may in any case direct that any such application shall be by regular procedure.

(3) Where there has been no collusion between the lessor and the lessee in respect of the lease so set aside, the court shall award to the lessee compensation for permanent improvements to the property effected by him during his tenure of the land.

(1) Whenever the trustee of any temple who has vacated his office as trustee for any cause whatsoever under the provisions of this Ordinance or of any enactment repealed by Ordinance No. 19 of 1931, or any viharadhipati, shall hold or occupy, either directly or through any other person on his behalf, any movable or immovable property belonging to any temple, and shall refuse or neglect to deliver possession of such property to the trustee for the time being of the said temple, or to any person authorized in that behalf by the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs, it shall be competent for such trustee, or for the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs, or the person authorized as aforesaid, as the case may be, to apply by way of summary procedure to the court for a writ requiring such first-named trustee or viharadhipati to deliver possession of the property to such other trustee or person aforesaid.

(2) On the hearing of such application it shall be competent to such court to issue its writ to the Fiscal and give possession accordingly as if it were a writ issued in execution of its own decree.

(3) A certificate under the hand of the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs to the effect that the person mentioned therein has vacated his office of trustee as aforesaid shall be conclusive evidence of the fact stated therein.

(a) give relief against any accidental mistake or omission or any informality occurring in the course of any matter arising under this Ordinance;

(b) extend the time fixed for any action or proceeding in this Ordinance ;

(c) order any person within a time fixed in the order to discharge any duty imposed upon him by this Ordinance, and for the purpose of the exercise of its powers under this section make any order that the justice of the case may require.

(1) It shall be the duty of every trustee to keep in a form to be prescribed by the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs complete and detailed accounts”

(2) It shall be the duty of every trustee and controlling viharadhipati to keep in a form to be prescribed by the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs an inventory of all movable and immovable property belonging to the temple.

(3) It shall be the duty of such trustee and controlling viharadhipati at all reasonable times to permit the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs or any person authorized by him in writing to inspect all such accounts and inventories and to verify their contents.

(4) Any trustee or controlling viharadhipati who contravenes the provisions of this section shall be guilty of an offence, and be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding two hundred rupees.

(1) It shall be the duty of every trustee to make up a statement of such accounts at the close of every half-year ending on the thirtieth day of June and the thirty-first day of December, in each year, and such trustee shall sign a declaration at the foot thereof that the accounts are ” true and correct”.

(2)

(3) Any trustee who contravenes any of the provisions of this section shall be guilty of an offence, and be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding two hundred rupees.

(1) It shall be the duty of a viharadhipati to furnish to the trustee of the temple and to the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs, when called upon to do so, all such information as he may possess regarding”

(2) Any viharadhipati who, without just cause withholds any information required to be given by this section, or who willfully gives false information regarding the same, or who without just cause retains possession of any property vested in trustees under the provisions of this Ordinance, or willfully obstructs any trustee or causes any trustee to be obstructed in the discharge of his duties, shall be guilty of an offence and be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding two hundred rupees.

(1) The Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs may cause all accounts of such trustees to be audited by an officer of his own department or he may send all such accounts to the Auditor- General who shall cause the same to be audited by an officer of the Audit Department.

(2) Every such officer shall for the purposes of such audit have all the powers given to an auditor under section 48 of the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs Ordinance, as amended from time to time, and he shall at the close of such audit send a report in writing together with all declarations which may have been made and signed before him to the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs who may take thereon such action under the provisions of this Ordinance as he shall think proper.

(1)

(2)

(3) The Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs shall on receiving the said forms in duplicate retain one copy of each for his own use and forward the other to the Mahanayaka Thera or Nayaka Thera of the nikaya mentioned therein, and it shall be the duty of both the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs and the said Mahanayaka Thera or Nayaka Thera to file their respective copies of such forms and make registers thereof.

(4) Such registers of upasampada bhikkhus shall be distinct from such registers of samaneras, they shall be made into bound volumes of which the papers shall be numbered consecutively and they shall each be provided with an index.

(5) The Mahanayaka Thera or Nayaka Thera of every nikaya shall from time to time make all such corrections, additions or alterations in his registers as may be necessary to keep up to date his registers of upasampada bhikkhus and samaneras of his nikaya and the relevant details regarding them; and whenever he makes any such modification in his registers he shall forthwith convey that fact to the Registrar- General who shall similarly modify the registers he is required to keep by this section.

(6) Such registers kept by the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs shall for the purposes of this Ordinance be prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein in all courts and for all purposes; and subject to the prescribed regulations, every such register may be searched and examined by any person claiming to be interested therein, and certified copies of or extracts from such registers may be obtained on payment of the prescribed fee.

(6A) Where a copy of one of the said forms filed in such a register kept by the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs is lost, damaged, illegible or in danger of becoming illegible and a duplicate of such copy is available in a register kept by the Mahanayaka Thera or Nayaka Thera of a nikaya, the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs may, after due inquiry, cause to be substituted therefor, a copy of such duplicate certified by him to have been made after verification with the register kept by such Mahanayaka Thera or Nayaka Thera and to be a true copy of such duplicate.

(6B) Where both the copy of such a form filed in a register kept by the Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs and its duplicate filed in a register kept by the Mahanayaka Thera or Nayaka Thera of a nikaya”

(6c) Every copy certified in accordance with the provisions of subsection (6A) or subsection (6B) shall be deemed to be the original which it replaces.

(7) Every upasampada bhikkhu, viharadhipati, robing tutor, Mahanayaka Thera or Nayaka Thera who fails to comply with or acts in contravention of the provisions of this section shall be guilty of an offence and be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty rupees.

(1) It shall be lawful for the Minister to make regulations”

(2) All regulations made under this Ordinance shall be laid as soon as conveniently may be, on the table of Parliament at two successive meetings of Parliament and shall be brought before Parliament at the next subsequent meeting held thereafter by a motion that the said regulations shall not be disapproved; and if upon the introduction of any such motion, or upon any adjournment thereof, the said regulations are disapproved by Parliament, such regulations shall be deemed to be rescinded as from the date of such disapproval but without prejudice to anything already done thereunder and such regulations, if not so disapproved, shall continue to be of full force and effect. Every such disapproval shall be published in the Gazette.

(3) The breach of any regulation made in pursuance of this section shall be an offence, and shall be punishable on summary conviction by a fine not exceeding one hundred rupees, and in the case of a continuing offence by a further fine not exceeding five rupees for each subsequent day on which such offence continues.