Indian Trusts Act, 1882 · Chapter I: Preliminary
Section 3: Interpretation-clause
A "trust":— is an obligation annexed to the ownership of property, and arising out of a confidence reposed in and accepted by the owner, or declared and accepted by him, for the benefit of another, or of another and the owner:
"author of the trust": "trustee": "beneficiary": "trust-property": "beneficial interest": "instrument of trust":— "the person who reposes or declares the confidence is called the "author of the trust": the person who accepts the confidence is called the trustee: the person for whose benefit the confidence is accepted is called the "beneficiary": the subject-matter of the trust is called "trust-property" or "trust-money": the "beneficial interest" or "interest" of the beneficiary is his right against the trustee as owner of the trust-property; and the instrument, if any, by which the trust is declared is called the "instrument of trust":
"breach of trust":— "a breach of any duty imposed on a trustee, as such, by any law for the time being in force, is called a "breach of trust":
"registered" :"and in this Act, unless there be something repugnant in the subject or context, registered" means registered under the law for the registration of documents for the time being in force:
"notice": "a person is said to have notice of a fact either when he actually knows that fact or when, but for wilful abstention from inquiry or gross negligence, he would have known it, or when information of the fact is given to or obtained by his agent, under the circumstances mentioned in the Indian Contract Act, 1872 (9 of 1872), section 229;
Expressions defined in Act 9 of 1872:—and all expressions used herein and defined in the Indian Contract Act, 1872 (9 of 1872), shall be deemed to have the meanings respectively attributed to them by that Act.
Source: India Code (indiacode.gov.in), the consolidated text published by the Legislative Department, Government of India. Text as updated on India Code on 15 October 2026. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.
Supreme Court judgments citing the section 3
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Operation Asha v. Shelly Batra & Ors.
Issue arose as to whether the appellant Society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 can be said to have fulfilled all the requirements stipulated u/s.92 CPC for the purpose of instituting a suit under…
- Akhil Bhartiya Upbhokta Congress v. State of Madhya Pradesh and Ors.
- Shiva Nath Prasad v. State of West Bengal and Ors.