cy pres
The doctrine applies to charitable trusts. If the original purpose becomes impossible, impracticable or fails, and the donor had a general charitable intention, the court does not let the gift fail or return to the donor's heirs. It directs the property to a purpose as close as possible to the original one.
In India, s.92(3) CPC lists the circumstances in which a court may alter the original purposes of a public charitable or religious trust and apply the property cy-près, for example where the original purpose has been fulfilled, cannot be carried out, or the property is more than enough for it. Where the donor intended only one specific purpose, the gift fails.
Example
The school for which the money was left closed down, so the court applied the fund cy-près to scholarships for girls in the same village.
In Indian law
- Section 92(3), Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (alteration of original purposes of a trust, cy-près)
See also
trust · wakf · rule against perpetuity
Read more in the study notes
- Suits by or against Government and public officers, aliens and foreign States, and suits on public matters (Civil Procedure Code and Limitation Act)