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High Court of Judicature at Madras
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE R.JAYASIMHA BABU & THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE N.V.BALASUBRAMANIAN
The Madras Medical Mission & Others - Appellant
Versus
State of Tamil Nadu represented by its Chief Secretary to Government & Others - Respondents
Writ Petition Nos.42470, 42471, 44339 of 2002 and O.A.Nos.908 of 2002
Decided On : 12 September 2003
The Madras Medical Mission (MMM), a registered society, was challenged by Dr. K.M. Cherian, a former Vice President and member of the Board of MMM, who had registered a society with the same name at Pondicherry. The Pondicherry Government had given its no objection to the establishment of PIMS by MMM, and the Pondicherry University had given its in-principle consent to grant affiliation. Dr. Cherian alleged various irregularities in the administration of MMM and sought the supersession of its committee under Section 34-A of the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act (Tamil Nadu Act 27 of 1975). An enquiry was conducted, and a show cause notice was issued to MMM by the Secretary to the Government. MMM challenged the notice and the statutory provisions under which it was issued. The Court held that the Secretary to the Government had been misled by Dr. Cherian, who had failed to disclose all the relevant facts and had sought to use the machinery of the State to dislodge the committee of MMM. The Court also held that the impugned letter of the Secretary was only a show cause notice and therefore no writ petition would lie against such notice to which the petitioner has a right to submit a reply. The Court further held that Sections 34-A and 34-B of the Act, which provide for supersession of the committee of a society and appointment of a Special Officer to manage the affairs of the society, are not violative of Art. 14 or Art. 19 (1) (c) of the Constitution.
Fact of the Case:
Dr. K.M. Cherian, a former Vice President and member of the Board of MMM, registered a society with the same name at Pondicherry. The Pondicherry Government had given its no objection to the establishment of PIMS by MMM, and the Pondicherry University had given its in-principle consent to grant affiliation. Dr. Cherian alleged various irregularities in the administration of MMM and sought the supersession of its committee under Section 34-A of the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act (Tamil Nadu Act 27 of 1975). An enquiry was conducted, and a show cause notice was issued to MMM by the Secretary to the Government.
Finding of the Court:
The Court held that the Secretary to the Government had been misled by Dr. Cherian, who had failed to disclose all the relevant facts and had sought to use the machinery of the State to dislodge the committee of MMM. The Court also held that the impugned letter of the Secretary was only a show cause notice and therefore no writ petition would lie against such notice to which the petitioner has a right to submit a reply. The Court further held that Sections 34-A and 34-B of the Act, which provide for supersession of the committee of a society and appointment of a Special Officer to manage the affairs of the society, are not violative of Art. 14 or Art. 19 (1) (c) of the Constitution.
Issues: 1. Whether the Secretary to the Government had been misled by Dr. Cherian, who had failed to disclose all the relevant facts and had sought to use the machinery of the State to dislodge the committee of MMM? 2. Whether the impugned letter of the Secretary was only a show cause notice and therefore no writ petition would lie against such notice to which the petitioner has a right to submit a reply? 3. Whether Sections 34-A and 34-B of the Act, which provide for supersession of the committee of a society and appointment of a Special Officer to manage the affairs of the society, are violative of Art. 14 or Art. 19 (1) (c) of the Constitution?
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The Court held that the Secretary to the Government had been misled by Dr. Cherian, who had failed to disclose all the relevant facts and had sought to use the machinery of the State to dislodge the committee of MMM. The Court relied on the fact that Dr. Cherian had not disclosed to the Government all the relevant facts and that he had sought to use the machinery of the State to dislodge the committee of MMM, which had taken firm action against him. 2. The Court held that the impugned letter of the Secretary was only a show cause notice and therefore no writ petition would lie against such notice to which the petitioner has a right to submit a reply. The Court relied on the fact that the letter was only a show cause notice and that the petitioner had a right to submit a reply to the notice. 3. The Court held that Sections 34-A and 34-B of the Act, which provide for supersession of the committee of a society and appointment of a Special Officer to manage the affairs of the society, are not violative of Art. 14 or Art. 19 (1) (c) of the Constitution. The Court relied on the fact that the provisions do not affect the formation, continued existence and the composition of the Society, and the action which the Government may take under s.34 (1), s.37 and s.34-A are qualitatively different, depending upon the nature and gravity of the fact situation.
Final Decision: The Court dismissed the writ petitions challenging the notice issued by the Secretary to the Government and the statutory provisions under which it was issued. The Court also dismissed the petition challenging the letter dated 20.11.2002 of the Secretary to the Government, which is in fact a show cause notice. The Court further dismissed the applications filed in the suit filed by Alex Jacob who pleaded the case of Dr. Cherian and the application filed by Mrs. Nallimala, the plaintiff in C.S.No.904 of 2002, seeking injunction to restrain the society from holding its extraordinary general body meeting.
R.JAYASIMHA BABU, J.
The common petitioner in these writ petitions--the Madras Medical Mission (MMM) whose membership is confined to Orthodox Syrian Christians--was registered 12.01.1982 as a Society under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975 (Tamil Nadu Act 27/1975). It's President is Bishop of that Church at Chennai. It presently has 135 members. The objects of the Society are primarily to establish hospitals, conduct research studies in medicine and run educational institutions including medical colleges.
2. MMM owns and runs a well known super speciality hospital: Institute of Cardio Vascular Diseases (ICVD), which was established in the year 1987, as also the Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Women's Health (IRM) and a Transplant Center at Chennai. The assets at Chennai are valued at about Rs.55 Crores. It has recently established at Pondicherry, the Pondicherry Institute of Medical Science (PIMS), which comprises of a 300 bed hospital and a medical college with an annual intake of hundred students. The hospital at Pondicherry commenced functioning in mid 2001 and the college admitted it's first batch of students in 2003. The estimated cost of the PIMS is Rs.80 crores of which about Rs.45 crores has been already invested.
3. The number of it's employees at Chennai is 794, whose mothly pay bill is about Rs.79 lakhs. At Pondicherry, the employees number 881 of whom 162 are doctors. The monthly pay bill is Rs.81.21 lakhs. The annual income generated at Chennai is about Rs.47 crores. The highest paid employee of MMM is the life time Director of ICVD, Dr.K.M.Cherian, whose annual remuneration of Rs.1.73 crores plus numerous valuable perquisites is over seven times that of the next highest salaried employee of the ICVD. The proceedings initiated at his instance is the cause for this litigation.
4. Dr.Cherian, who is a signatory to the memorandum of Association of MMM was its first Vice President and has been a member of the Board of MMM throughout, except for a short period. On 5.2.2000 he was entrusted by the Board of MMM with the additional responsibility of Chairman of the PIMS. On 14.9.2001--by which date the Pondicherry Government had given its no objection to the establishment of PIMS by MMM, the Pondicherry University had given its, in principle, consent to grant affiliation; the Government of India had granted a letter of intent for establishing a new medical college by MMM at Pondicherry; the construction of a ten storey hospital building of the PIMS had been completed and the hospital had started functioning--Dr. Cherian along with his wife and son and few of his friends registered a society at Pondicherry under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, with the name, "Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences", the very name under which MMM was establishing the medical college and hospital at Pondicherry. The registration of that society was without the knowledge or consent of the Board of MMM. The Constitution and Bye-laws of that society provided that Dr.Cherian was to be it's Chairman and Chief Executive for life.
5. After the formation of that society, Dr.Cherian secured a letter from the Pondicherry Government in March 2002 certifying the minority status of the PIMS 'run by the PIMS Society'. On 8.4.2002 Dr. Cherian wrote to the members of the MMM about the formation of his society and his consultation with financial and legal experts for transferring to his society the right of management of PIMS. All this was done without informing or obtaining the consent of the Board of MMM and at a time when he was still functioning as Chairman of the PIMS, a position which required him to safeguard the interest of MMM and not to do anything against the interest of MMM.
6. On 16.4.2002, Dr.Cherian was suspended from his position of Chairman of PIMS. A month later he challenged that order in this Court by filing C.S.No.322 of 2002, but was unsuccessful in regaining that position.
7. It was in this backgro
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