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2015 Supreme(Mad) 2024
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
R. SUBBIAH, J.
Deshratna Dr. Rajendra Prasad Memorial Trust (Madras) – Appellant
Versus
Bihar Association (Regd), represented by its General Secretary, S P Sinha & Others – Respondent
Application No. 5217 of 2014 in C.S.No. 477 of 2014
Decided On : 01-06-2015
For the Applicant :A. Thiagarajan, Senior Counsel for M/s. Surana & Surana, Advocates. For the Respondents:R. Arumugam, Advocate.
Headnote:
Societies Registration Act, 1860 – Civil Procedure Code, 1908 – Order XIV Rule 8, Section 92 – Resolution – Will – Application has been filed by the applicant/1st defendant viz., Deshratna Dr.Rajendra Prasad Memoral Trust (Madras), under Order XIV Rule 8 of Original Side Rules r/w Section 151 of CPC, praying to revoke the leave granted by this Court in Application vide., order to sue the defendants – Held, From a perusal of the avements in the plaint, prima facie I find that the suit has been instituted by the 1st plaintiff-Association that was instrumental in establishment of the 1st defendant-Trust for the benefit of its majority of its members by contributing to the entire corpus fund and also for almost entire sale consideration for procurement of suit property from and out of its funds with proper and valid authorization by way of EGM dated 23.11.1980. – The present suit is filed in the representative capacity by the plaintiffs as they have been duly authorized by the EGM of the 1st plaintiff Association dated 1.6.2014 to protect the interest of the members of the 1st plaintiff Association who are major beneficiaries of the 1st defendant Trust. – Hence, the present suit is validly laid and the plaintiffs are entitled to proceed with the suit to establish their rights in terms of law. – Senior counsel appearing for the 1st defendant-Trust, by relying upon the judgment of the Karnataka High Court in the case of Shri Achyuta Ashram R/B Vs. K.Ramakrishna S/o.Bhaskar Roa, dated 23rd July 2012, RFA No.3017/2009(MV) that a Society has no right to institute a suit under Section 92 of CPC in view of the fact that the Society is a separate legal entity. – But, the factual aspects of the case relied by the learned senior counsel for the 1st defendant would show that in that case, a Society has filed the suit as against its members; whereas in the instant case, the present suit has been filed by the Association as against a Public Charitable Trust, which is in conformity with Section 92 of CPC. – Therefore, the said judgment relied upon by the learned senior counsel for the 1st defendant-Trust, cannot be made applicable to the present facts of the case. – Absolutely Court do not find any valid ground to revoke the leave granted by this Court. – Application Dismissed
1. This application has been filed by the applicant/1st defendant viz., Deshratna Dr.Rajendra Prasad Memoral Trust (Madras), under Order XIV Rule 8 of Original Side Rules r/w Section 151 of CPC, praying to revoke the leave granted by this Court in Application No.4392 of 2014 vide., order dated 14.07.2014 to sue the defendants.
2. The applicant herein is the 1st defendant and the respondents herein are the plaintiffs in the suit. For the sake of convenience, the parties will be referred to as per their rankings in the suit.
3. The plaintiffs have filed the suit for the following reliefs :
(a) to remove the 4th defendant from the office of the Managing Trustee and the 5th defendant from the office of the Trustee of the 1st defendant-Trust for their illegal activities which include their functioning against the Will of the author of the 1st defendant-Trust that was clearly spelt out in the resolution passed by the Extraordinary General Body Meeting of the 1st plaintiff-Association on 23.11.1980;
(b) to remove the defendants 2, 3, 6, 7 & 9 from the office of the Trustees of the 1st defendant-Trust as their appointments have been made against the Will of the Author as enumerated in the resolutions passed by the Extraordinary General Body Meeting of the 1st plaintiff-Association held on 23.11.1980 of the 1st plaintiff-Association;
(c) to declare that the Board Resolution dated 2.5.2014 said to have been passed by the Board of Trustees of the 1st defendant-Trust at the residence of the 2nd defendant communicated vide 4th defendant's letter dated 7.5.2014 is against the Will of the author of the 1st defendant-Trust and also against the main objectives of the 1st defendant-Trust and it is illegal and not binding on the plaintiffs;
(d) Permanent Injunction restraining the defendants and their men & agents or any one claiming through them, from in any way interfering with or giving hindrance in functioning of the 1st plaintiff-Association at Rajendra Babu Bhavan and conducting their regular activities which include religious functions and cultural activities as mentioned at para 8 as usual and before;
(e) to frame a scheme for proper administration of the 1st defendant-Trust keeping in mind the Will of the author of the Trust as passed in the Extraordinary General Body Meeting on 23.11.1980 of the 1st plaintiff-Association for the better and efficient administration of the 1st defendant-Trust;
(f) to direct the 4th defendant to render true and genuine accounts of the 1st defendant-Trust from 10.12.1980 to till date.
(g) for the cost of the suit;
4. Since the suit is as against the public Trust, the plaintiffs had filed an application in A.No.4392 of 2014 under Section 92 of CPC seeking leave of this Court to file the suit. This Court by order dated 14.07.2014 has granted leave to the plaintiffs to file the suit. Pursuant to the leave granted by this Court, the suit has been numbered as C.S.No.477 of 2014.
5. On appearance, the 1st defendant-Trust has filed the present application seeking to revoke the leave granted by this Court.
6. Before dealing with the application to revoke the leave granted by this Court, it would be appropriate to extract the case of the plaintiff. The case of the plaintiff, in brief, is as follows_
6-1. The 1st plaintiff-Association namely Bihar Association is a registered body, registered vide S.No.178/1967 dated 08.09.1967 under the provisions of the Societies Registration Act, 1860. The Association has been established for the purpose of catering the welfare and service needs of persons originally hailing from Bihar, predominantly employed or based at Chennai and its surrounding territories. As per the bye-laws of the 1st plaintiff-Association, the office bearers are elected on annual basis invariably on 14th April of every year and in such a manner, one Shri.N.Shoba Kant Das, the 4th defendant herein, was elected as the President of the 1st plaintiff-Association for the year 1980-81. Since the 1st plaintiff-Asso
