JUDGMENT :

[Amit Bansal, J.]

I.A.2750/2022 (O-XXXIX R-1 & 2 of the CPC) and I.A.3857/2022 (of the defendant no.4 u/O-XL R-1 & 2 of the CPC)

1. By way of the present judgement, I shall decide the application filed on behalf of the plaintiffs under Order XXXIX Rules 1 and 2 read with Order XL of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC) for appointment of the defendant no.10 as an administrator for the defendant no.9, Jai Radha Raman Education Society [hereinafter “defendant no.9 Society”] and the application filed on behalf of the defendant no.4 under Order XXXIX Rules 1 and 2 of the CPC for appointment of a neutral person as an administrator for the defendant no.9 Society.

2. Submissions in the matter were heard on 28th January, 2022, 18th February, 2022, 10th March, 2022, 9th May, 2022, 22nd July, 2022, 25th July, 2022, 14th September, 2022, 11th October, 2022, 22nd November, 2022 and 19th December, 2022, when judgment was reserved in the captioned applications. Written submissions have also been filed on behalf of the plaintiffs and the defendants no. 4 and 5.

3. For ease of reference, the plaintiffs no.1 and 2 and the defendants no.10 to 15 are collectively referred to as the “Raffles Group” and the defendants no.1 to 8 are collectively referred to as the “Educomp Group.”

GENESIS OF THE DISPUTE

4. Briefly stated, the case set up by the plaintiffs is as under:

4.1 The defendant no.9 Society was set up as a private, not for profit education society in April, 2004. The defendant no.9 Society has its own Constitution and Rules and Regulations [hereinafter “JRRES Rules and Regulations”], and is run by its members, forming the General Body of Members [hereinafter “General Body”] from whom a Governing Body of Members [hereinafter “Governing Body”] is drawn. Currently, the General Body of the defendant no.9 Society comprises of sixteen members, out of which eight members belong to Educomp Group and eight belong to the Raffles Group.

4.2 The registered office of the defendant no.9 Society is at New Delhi.

4.3 The plaintiffs no.1 and 2 are members of the defendant no.9 Society since April, 2014 and are persons interested in the welfare, aims and objectives of the defendant no.9 Society.

4.4 The plaintiff no.1 is the wife of the defendant no.10 and the plaintiff no.2 is the son of the defendant no.10.

4.5 The defendant no.10, Mr. Hua Seng Chew, being the founder of the Raffles Educational Corporation, a Singapore based public listed company, has been the Chairman of the defendant no.9 Society since 2014. It is stated that the defendant no.10 is a reputed educationist, and the Raffle Group runs a number of colleges and universities all over the world.

4.6 The defendant no.1, Mr. Shantanu Prakash, is the President of the defendant no.9 Society and is Chairman and Managing Director of Educomp Solutions Limited, an Indian public listed company.

4.7 The defendants no.2 to 8 are other members of the defendant no.9 Society who are part of the Educomp Group and the defendants no.10 to 15 are members of the defendant no.9 Society belonging to the Raffles Group.

4.8 Some of the prominent aims and objects of the defendant no.9 Society are as under:

i. To establish and run educational institutions, including universities, colleges and schools.

ii. To establish and run libraries, auditoriums and hostels for students.

iii. To provide financial assistance for poor and needy students.

iv. To collaborate with any other Society, Company, Corporate House, Firm, individual, etc. to utilize their expertise to achieve the aims and objects of the Society.

v. To arrange and organize student’s welfare programs and activities.

4.9 In 2006, the defendant no.9 Society obtained a 90-year lease over a 44-acre site in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh from the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority [hereinafter ‘GNIDA’] under a lease deed dated 18th October, 2006 hereinafter ‘Lease Deed’] for the purposes of developing a management college and technical university [