TRUSTEE ACT 1936 - SECT 35B
TRUSTEE ACT 1936 - SECT 35B
35B—Variation of employees' benefit fund
(1) The trustees of
any employees' benefit fund may vary the instrument creating the fund as they
think fit, subject to the observance of the following conditions:
(a) the
consent of the beneficiaries shall be obtained to the variation;
(b) the
consent shall be obtained by a vote of beneficiaries at a meeting called and
held pursuant to not less than four weeks' notice in that behalf stating the
details of the proposed variation to be submitted to the meeting and served
personally or by post on every beneficiary. If the notice is served by post it
shall be sufficient to address it to the usual or last known place of abode or
business of the beneficiary;
(c) the
consent of the beneficiaries shall not be deemed to have been given unless
three-fourths of the beneficiaries present and voting at a meeting held as
aforesaid consent to the variation.
(2) A person nominated
in that behalf by the trustees of the employees' benefit fund shall preside as
chairman at a meeting held under this section unless and until some other
person is proposed and seconded by beneficiaries and elected as chairman by a
majority of the beneficiaries present and voting at the meeting, in which case
that person shall preside as chairman.
(3) A person voting at
a meeting under this section shall do so by marking his vote on a ballot-paper
provided by the trustees; and the meeting shall be so conducted as to ensure
that the voting shall be secret.
(4) A certificate in
writing under the hand of any person who was chairman of a meeting held under
this section at the time the beneficiaries voted on the variation shall be
prima facie evidence that the meeting was duly called and the consent of the
beneficiaries to the variation was duly obtained.
(5) Where the
instrument creating an employees' benefit fund is varied pursuant to this
section, the property of the fund shall be held on the trusts contained in the
instrument as varied.
(6) The benefits to
which any person is entitled in possession under an employees' benefit fund
shall not be prejudiced or diminished in any way by any variation under this
section of the instrument creating the fund without the consent in writing of
that person.
(7) This section shall
apply unless the instrument creating the employees' benefit fund expressly
provides that it shall not apply.
(8) Subject to
subsection (7) of this section, where the instrument creating an
employees' benefit fund provides for the variation of the instrument, the
instrument may be varied in accordance with its terms or in accordance with
this section.
(9) This section shall
apply to any employees' benefit fund whether created before or after the
passing of the Trustee Act Amendment Act 1953 .
(10) In this
section—
"benefit" means all or any of the following benefits, namely, pensions,
retiring allowances, sickness or hospital benefits, payments during
unemployment, death or funeral benefits or other like benefits, allowances or
payments;
"beneficiary" means a person who is entitled or prospectively entitled to a
benefit under an employees' benefit fund by virtue of his employment and who
is actually in that employment at the time that the meeting is held pursuant
to paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section;
"employees' benefit fund" means any fund established, provided, or contributed
to, by any employer for the purpose of providing any benefit to his employees
during or after the determination of their employment or to both those
employees and any other persons;
"vary" includes "add to" and
"variation" includes addition.