Equity and Trusts in Sanskrit Jurisprudence

Abstract

This monograph outlines theories of Equity and Trusts in Sanskrit jurisprudence (Dharmaśāstra) and traces their variegated connections to the practical administration of religious endowments from classical to contemporary India. Dharmaśāstra describes phenomena that, in Anglo-American jurisprudence, are associated with courts of equity: the management of religious and charitable trusts; and the guardianship of those who lack legal capacity. Since the early centuries of the Common Era, Sanskrit jurisprudential theories of Equity and Trusts have served, and continue to serve, as a touchstone for the practical administration of Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist religious endowments under numerous political regimes. This monograph focuses on ‘deities’ property’ (devasva), a quintessentially Indian form of trust in which the tutelary deities of temples are treated as the legal owners of endowed property. These deities are analogized to perpetual minors and the Crown (or the State), as parens patriae, serves as a bulwark against breach of trust and as a protector of ‘orphaned’ deities. This ancient, hybrid jurisprudence of Equity and Trusts, fashioned over more than two-thousand years of Indian history, lies at the heart of some of the most contentious legal disputes in contemporary India, such as the communal disputes over sacred sites in Ayodhyā, Mathurā, and Vārāṇasī. This monograph outlines the core Sanskrit jurisprudential principles of Equity and Trusts, examines their application to practical trusts law during Classical, Islamic, and Colonial India, and explores contemporary cases concerning the Hindu Law of Religious and Charitable Trusts.