(1) The Commissioner may suspend, remove or dismiss the trustee or a pujari of any Hindu Public Religious Institution and Charitable Endowment,-
(a) for persistent default in the submission of budgets, accounts, reports or returns to the Commissioner or any other officer authorised in this behalf;
(b) for wilful disobedience of any order issued under the provisions of this Act by the Commissioner or the Government;
(c) for any malfeasance, misfeasance, breach of trust or neglect of duty in respect of the Hindu Religious Institution and Charitable Endowment or alienation of any property, in contravention of this Act;
(d) for any misappropriation of, or improper dealing with, the properties of the religious institution and endowment of which he is a trustee or a pujari;
(e) for having been found under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs in the temple; and
(f) for unsoundness of mind or other mental or physical defect or infirmity which renders him unfit for discharging the functions of a trustee or a pujari:
Provided that no trustee or pujari shall be removed or dismissed by the Commissioner under this section unless he has been given reasonable opportunity of being heard.
(2) A non-hereditary trustee, or a pujari, who is suspended, removed or dismissed by the Commissioner under sub-section (1), may, within one month from the date of receipt of the order of suspension, removal or dismissal, prefer an appeal to such authority and in the manner as may be prescribed by the Government.
(3) A hereditary trustee or pujari, who is suspended, removed or dismissed by the Commissioner under sub-section (1), may, within two months from the date of receipt of the order, prefer an appeal to the Financial Commissioner.
(4) A hereditary trustee or a pujari so suspended, removed or dismissed may be allowed such maintenance as may be fixed by the Commissioner considering the financial condition of the institution.
1. Sub-sections (5) and (6) inserted vide Act No. 14 of 2007.
THE HIMACHAL PRADESH HINDU PUBLIC RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS AND CHARITABLE ENDOWMENTS ACT, 1984 15 20 Disqualifications of trustees and pujaris.- A person shall be disqualified for being appointed as, and for continuing to be, a trustee or a pujari as the case may be,-
(a) if he is an undischarged insolvent;
(b) if he is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court;
(c) if he is interested either directly or indirectly in a subsisting lease or any property of, or contract made with, or any work being done for, the institution or endowment or is in arrears of any dues payable to such institution or endowment;
(d) if he is appearing as a legal practitioner on behalf of or against the institution or endowment;
(e) if he has been sentenced by a criminal court for an offence involving moral turpitude, and such sentence has not been reversed;
(f) if he has acted adversely to the interest of the institution and endowment;
(g) if he is an addict to intoxicating liquors or drugs;
(h) in case of non-hereditary trustee or a pujari, if he has not completed twenty one years of age; and
(i) in the case of a Hindu Public Religious Institution, if he ceases to profess Hindu religion or persuation or to belong to the religious denomination to which the Hindu Public Religious Institution and Charitable Endowment pertains.