70. Office how vacated.—The office of a trustee is vacated by his death or by his discharge from his
office.
71. Discharge of trustee.—The trustee may be discharged from his office only as follows:—
(a) by the extinction of the trust;
(b) by the completion of his duties under the trust;
(c) by such means as may be prescribed by the instrument of trust;
(d) by appointment under this Act of a new trustee in his place;
(e) by consent of himself and the beneficiary, or, where there are more beneficiaries than one, all
the beneficiaries being competent to contract, or
(f) by the Court to which a petition for his discharge is presented under this Act.
72. Petition to be discharged from trust.—Notwithstanding the provisions of section 11,
every trustee may apply by petition to a principal Civil Court of original jurisdiction to be
discharged from his office; and if the Court finds that there is sufficient reason for such discharge,
it may discharge him accordingly, and direct his costs to be paid out of the trust-property. But
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where there is no such reason, the Court shall not discharge him, unless a proper person can be
found to take his place.
73. Appointment of new trustees on death, etc.—Whenever any person appointed a trustee
disclaims, or any trustee, either original or substituted, dies, or is for a continuous period of six months
absent from 1
[India], or leaves 1
[India] for the purpose of residing abroad, or is declared an insolvent, or
desires to be discharged from the trust, or refuses or becomes, in the opinion of a principal Civil Court of
original jurisdiction, unfit or personally incapable to act in the trust, or accepts an inconsistent trust, a new
trustee may be appointed in his place by—
(a) the person nominated for that purpose by the instrument of trust (if any), or
(b) if there be no such person, or no such person able and willing to act, the author of the
trust if he be alive and competent to contract, or the surviving or continuing trustees or trustee
for the time being, or legal representative of the last surviving and continuing trustee, or (with
the consent of the Court) the retiring trustees, if they all retire simultaneously, or (with the
like consent) the last retiring trustee.
Every such appointment shall be by writing under the hand of the person making it. On an
appointment of a new trustee the number of trustees may be increased.
The Official Trustee may, with his consent and by the order of the Court, be appointed under this
section, in any case in which only one trustee is to be appointed and such trustee is to be the sole trustee.
The provisions of this section relative to a trustee who is dead include the case of a person nominated
trustee in a will but dying before the testator, and those relative to a continuing trustee include a refusing
or retiring trustee if willing to act in the execution of the power.
74. Appointment by Court.—Whenever any such vacancy or disqualification occurs and it is
found impracticable to appoint a new trustee under section 73, the beneficiary may, without instituting
a suit, apply by petition to a principal Civil Court of original jurisdiction for the appointment of a
trustee or a new trustee, and the Court may appoint a trustee or a new trustee accordingly.
Rule for selecting new trustees.—In appointing new trustees, the Court shall have regard (a)
to the wishes of the author of the trust as expressed in or to be inferred from the instrument of
trust; (b) to the wishes of the person, if any, empowered to appoint new trustees; (c) to the question
whether the appointment will promote or impede the execution of the trust; and (d) where there are
more beneficiaries than one, to the interests of all such beneficiaries.
75. Vesting of trust-property in new trustees.—Whenever any new trustee is appointed under
section 73 or section 74, all the trust-property for the time being vested in the surviving or continuing
trustees or trustee, or in the legal representative of any trustee, shall become vested in such new trustee,
either solely or jointly with the surviving or continuing trustees or trustee, as the case may require.
Powers of new trustees.—Every new trustee so appointed, and every trustee appointed by a
Court either before or after the passing of this Act, shall have the same powers, authorities and
discretions, and shall in all respects act, as if he had been originally nominated a trustee by the
author of the trust.
76. Survival of trust.—On the death or discharge of one of several co-trustees, the trust
survives and the trust-property passes to the others, unless the instrument of trust expressly declares
otherwise.