 bill  no  xxxvi of  2008 the management of religious institutions and places of worship  bill, 2008 a billto provide  for management, operation and control of all aspects of religious institutions and places of worship, which are in direct or indirect control of state and for matters connected therewith or incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the fifty-ninth year of the republic of india asfollows:—1 (1) this act may be called the management of religious institutions and places ofworship act, 2008short title, extent and commencement(2) it extends to the whole of india5(3) it shall come into force with immediate effectdefinitionsdefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—5(a) "administrative control" means a  religious institution or place of worshipshall be deemed to be under the administrative control of  the appropriate government if the said government appoints or nominates or has the right to nominate/appoint one or more persons on the controlling body or management committee of the religious institution or place or worship;(b) "advisory board" means a board constituted under section 11 of this act; (c) "appropriate government" means in case of a state, the government thatstate and in all other cases, the central government;10(d) "financial control" means a  religious institution or place of worship shallbe said to be under the financial control of the appropriate government if the said government instructs or directs or has the right to direct/instruct about the manner in which funds collected or earned by the religious institution or place of worship are to be spent;15(e) "financial year" means year from the 1st april of a year to 31st march ofthe subsequent year;20(f) "management committee" in relation to a religious institution or place ofworship means any body or authority or committee, by whatever name called, having the power to direct or control any or all of the operations of the religious institution or place of worship;(g) "place of worship" means any land or building which is considered sacredor holy by any community, sect or religion;(h) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act;25(i) "religious institution" includes any organization, association of persons,society, trust or board, which is either set up with the intention of carrying out religious activity/activities or is engaged in any religious activity;30(j) "service" a person shall be said to be in service of a religious institution orplace of worship if he or she has either been authorized by the managing committee or has been traditionally doing any type of work, either full-time or part-time, at or in relation to the religious institution or place of worship, irrespective of whether he orshe is receiving or not receiving any remuneration for the workexclusion3 nothing contained in this act shall apply to any religious institution or place ofworship, which is not under financial or administrative control of either a state government or the central government35funds to be separate4 any fund or donation or gift, either in cash or kind, collected or received by anyreligious institution or place of worship shall not be treated as part of the fund of any government or of any government institution or government society or government boardgovernment to be trustee405 in case of any religious institution or place of worship to which this act applies,the appropriate government's role shall only be of a trustee  responsible for ensuring that the funds, properties, estates and all assets of the religious institution or place of worship are used strictly in accordance with the tenets, wishes and aspirations of the religion or sect or community to which the religious institution or place of worship belongspublication of accounts456 (1) the appropriate government shall publish or cause to be published, withinthree months of the conclusion of a financial year, full accounts showing details of income, expenditure, assets, liabilities, investments, sale of assets, and any other matter that is necessary to give a true and fair picture of the finances of the religious institution or place of worship under its administrative or financial  control during the relevant financial year(2) if the income of a religious institution or place of worship exceedsrupees one  lakh in any financial year, the accounts of the religious institution or place of worship shall be duly audited by a chartered accountant5(3) along with published accounts, it shall also be mandatory for the religious institution or place of worship to give details in respect of any income or assets of such institution or place of worship are used for personal benefit of any person in such manner as may be prescribedpersons        on managing committee107 no person shall be appointed or nominated to the managing committee of anyreligious institution or place of worship or of a group of religious institutions or places of worship, unless the person being appointed or nominated declares to have full faith and devotion to the religion, sect or the deity to which the religious institution(s) or place(s) of worship belongs158 no person shall be appointed in the service of any religious institution or place of worship or of a group of religious institutions or places of worship, unless the person being appointed declares to have full faith and devotion to the religion, sect or the deity to which the religious institution(s) or place(s) of worship belongspersons          in service           ofreligion institution     or place              of worship right toremove onviolation ofdeclaration209 (1) the managing committee of a religious institution or place of worship or of a group of religious institutions or places of worship shall have the right to remove any person from the managing committee or from service if it is proved to the satisfaction of the managing committee that the person concerned has acted in a manner that violates in any way whatsoever his/her declaration of full faith and devotion to the religion, sect or the deity to which the religious institution(s) or place(s) of worship belongs25(2) in case the person to be removed by the managing committee under sub-section(1) has been appointed by the appropriate government, the managing committee shall recommend to the government for removal of such person and on receipt of recommendation, the government shall within seven days of receipt of recommendation, remove the person(3) a person removed under sub-section (2) from the managing committee  or the service of a religious institution or place of worship shall be inelegible for the appointment under the government30| right          ||----------------|| impose code of || conduct       |10 (1) the managing committee of a religious institution or place of worship orof a group of religious institutions or places of worship shall have the right to impose acode of conduct as well as a dress code for all members of the managing committee as well for all persons in service of the religious institution(s) or place(s) of worship35(2) the managing committee of a religious institution or place of worship or of agroup of religious institutions or places of worship shall  have the right to remove any person from the managing committee or from service if it is proved to the satisfaction of the managing committee that the person concerned has acted in a manner that violates in any way whatsoever the code of conduct or dress code imposed by the managing committee40(3) in case the person to be removed by the  managing committee under sub-section(2) above, has been appointed by the appropriate government, the managing committee shall recommend to the government  for removal of such person and on receipt of recommendation, the government shall, within seven days of receipt of recommendation, remove the person45(4) a person removed under sub-section (3) from the managing committee or the service of a religious institution or place of worship shall be ineligible for reappointment under the governmentconstitution of advisoryboard11 the appropriate government shall constitute an advisory board for deciding policies and rules in respect of management and activities of religious institutions or places of worship of any particular religion, sect, deity or communityexplanation:— the appropriate government may constitute as many advisory boards as may be necessary for giving  effects to the provision of this act12 (1) every advisory board shall have one chairman, one general secretary and such  number of members, as may be specified by the appropriate governmentmembers       of advisory board5(2) the criterian for appointment as the chairman, general secretary and membersof the advisory board shall be such as may be prescribed by the apropriate government from time to time10(3) in case an advisory board relates to religious institutions and places of worship of more than one sect, reasonable representation to all sects, to which the board relates, shall be provided(4) no government functionary or officer or employee shall be eligible for nomination for chairman, general secretary or member of any advisory board13 (1) the advisory board shall not be involved in day-to-day management or operations of any religious institution or place of  worshipfunctions     of advisory board15(2) the advisory board will only frame rules and policies, which shall be binding onall religious institutions and places of worship in the state of the particular religion, sect, deity or community for which the advisory board has been constituted20supervision and control of managing committees(3) the advisory board shall be responsible for supervision and control includingaudit of finances of managing committees of all religious institutions and places of worship in the state of the particular religion or sect or deity or community for which the advisory board is constituted14 the salaries and allowances and terms and conditions of services of the chairman gs and members shall be such as may be prescribed by the appropriate government25irregularities by managing committee15 (1) in case the advisory board detects irregularities in the working of anymanaging committee of a religious institution or place of worship in the state of a particular religion or sect or deity or community for which the advisory board is constituted, the board shall issue a warning to the concerned managing committee30(2) if the advisory board is of the opinion that the irregularity is of serious natureor the managing committee has ignored the warning and has continued with the irregularity, the advisory board shall recommend to the appropriate government to eitherremove a particular person from concerned managing commitee to reconstitute the managing committee35(3) the recommendation of the advisory board under this section shall be bindingon the appropriate government and action shall be taken by that government within a reasonable time without any delay(4) the advisory board shall also have power to initiate legal proceedings against any person found guilty of irregularities under this section16 the appropriate government shall not remove any person from the post of chairman or general secretary or member of an advisory board or the managing committee, before the completion of his tenure, unless he:—40(a) is proved to be of unsound mind;removal        of managing committee    of advisory board members(b) is convicted of a criminal offence and punished with imprisonment exceeding three months;(c) is found to be indulging in terrorist or anti-national activities;45(d) indulges in any act for which a recommendation has been received against him from the relevant advisory board or management committee under the provisions of this actpenalty17 (1) any willful violation of any provision of this act shall be punishable with imprisonment  for a term which may extend to three years and fine(2) a false declaration of one's faith or devotion shall be an offence punishable under sub-section (1)5(3) misuse of income or assets of a religious institution or place of worship as well asuse without due authorization from managing committeee shall be an offence punishable under sub-section (1)transition provison1018 all bodies or committees or boards existing before the commencement this actfor management and control of religious institutions and places of worship in every state shall be reconstituted to comply with the provisions of this act within six months from the date of this act becoming effectivesavings19 the provisions of this act shall have effects notwithstanding anything contrary contained in any other law for the time being in force  passed earlier by any state legislature or by parliament15| power                                                                       ||-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|| make rules                                                                 || 20                                                                          || (                                                                           || 1                                                                           || ) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make || rules for carrying out the purposes of this act                            |(2) in particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the forgoing powers such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely,—20(a) the rules relating to constitution of managing committee and advisoryboards;(b) the salary and allowances, and other terms and conditions of the chariman,general secretary and members of advisory boards;(c) the funds collected  by the managing committee and the rule of theadvisory boards;25(d) any other matters which may be prescribed statement of objects and reasonsthe preamble of the constitution of india declares india to be a "secular democratic republic" an essential condition of a secular country is an arm's length distance between religion and state many state governments have taken over many religious institutions and places of worship in many cases, government representatives and nominees sit on the controlling bodies of religious institutions and places of worship in the absence of any norms or law in this regard, the principles of secularism are often violated it is therefore, felt that a central law is needed to make sure that (a) religious institutions are independent, (b) funds collected by any religious institution or place of worship are used in line with the tenets of religion or sect or community or deity (c) there is transparency in use of funds, (d) prominent persons and religious persons of a religion or sect or community have a say in managing affairs of their religious institutions and places of worship, and (e) persons misusing religious institutions and places of worship for their personal ends are duly punishedhence this billraghunandan sharma financial memorandumclause 12 of the bill provides for appointment of the chairman, general secretaries and members of the advisory boards of religious institutions and places of worshipclause 14 empowers the appropriate government to provide salaries and allowances for the functionaries of the advisory boardsthe bill, if enacted will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india in respect of union territories it is estimated that approximately a sum of rupees five hundred crore will be met by the central government as recurring expenditure in respect of the advisory boards falling under its jurisdiction memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 20 of the bill gives power to the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of this bill the rules will relate to matters of details onlythe delegation of legislative power is of normal character———— a billto provide for management, operation and control of all aspects of religious institutionsand places of worship, which are in direct or indirect control of state and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto————(shri raghunandan sharma, mp)gmgipmrnd—4756rs(s-5)—29-12-2008