Rameshwar Charitable Trust was established in Chennai in 1978 through a deed executed by a retired industrialist, with the stated objective of providing financial assistance to members of a specific community residing in

In order to determine whether a deed of trust is a valid public or charitable trust, it is necessary to see what is the dominant intention of the testator, namely, who are the real objects of his bequest and secondly whether the class indicated as the object of charity forms at least a section of the public. Where the main and paramount intention of the settler was to benefit the members of his family and thereafter the members of his caste who might need assistance from such funds there could be no public or charitable trust created. It is one of the cardinal rules governing execution of charitable trusts that the intention of the donor must be observed. This principle has been evolved as an auxiliary to this rule and is never allowed to defeat it. If the charity can be administered according to the directions of the founder, the law requires that it should be so administered. The Courts will not allow any departure from them on the grounds of expediency. Cy pres means near to it. The doctrine of Cy pres applies only to charitable trusts. The reason is that a public charity is perpetual and the rule against perpetuity does not apply to it. It can never die though its nature may be changed. In Halsbury's Law of England, in 3rd Edition. Vol. 4, P. 317, it is stated: "Where a clear charitable intention is expressed, it will not be permitted to fail because the mode, if specified, cannot be executed, but the law will substitute another mode Cy pres, that is, as near as possible to the mode specified by the 'donor'. However, the doctrine is subject to the doctrine of severability, i.e., the doctrine of Cy pres, applies if the nature of the charitable object is general and not specific. The contention of the trustees is not justified as the trust fails the "public character" test by prioritizing family members and a specific caste, which prevents it from being classified as a valid public charitable trust. Since the Doctrine of Cy-pres applies exclusively to perpetual public charities with a general intent, the court cannot permit a departure from the founder's specific directions based on mere socioeconomic expediency. Trusts are divisible into several classes according to the mode of their creation.