The main legal point established in the judgment is the significance of the actual number of members in determining the applicability of the collegium system under the Haryana Registration and Regulations of Societies Act of 2012.

K. Kannan, J. - I. The subject of lis

1. The short point that falls for consideration in the writ petition is whether the election to the 5th respondent-Society called Sanathan Dharam Education Society would require to be conducted through a system of collegium as contemplated under the Haryana Registration and Regulations of Societies Act of 2012 or not. This poser is on account of the manner of how the election was conducted by the Returning Officer, without constituting a collegium, by notifying a schedule of different dates for the process of election from the stage of filing of the nomination forms till the stage of counting of votes and by the order that was passed by the Returning Officer, it was found that the election held was proper and there was no defect in the manner complained of by the petitioner.

II. The relevant sections reproduced

2. The learned counsel for the petitioner would point out to the fact that by an amendment to the bye-laws, the provisions for membership was raised to 301 from 201 and the plea is that the moment the threshold of number in excess 300 is provided for a Society, the system of collegium as contemplated under the provisions of the Haryana Registration and Regulations of Societies Act of 2012 will apply.

3. Admittedly, although the contemplated strength of Society was increased to 301, there were only 300 members, and of them, 3 had died and 12 of them had been declared as wrongly inducted through a decision of the civil court in Civil Suit No. 96 of 2011. These two incidents make the tally of membership to less than 300 and that has been considered in the impugned order as relevant for the non-applicability of the system of collegium for election of the office bearers of the Society.

4. The learned counsel for the petitioner refers me to the definition of "collegium" under Section 2(iii) which reads as under :-

"Collegium" means an intermediate body consisting of elected representatives of members of a Society and required to be constituted in cases where the number of members exceeds three hundred."

The counsel would contend that the reference to the number of members exceeding 300 must be understood as members' strength as approved by the Society. The counsel would also refer me to three other Sections as relevant and they are reproduced as under :-

"29. (1) The total number of persons admitted as members of a Society in accordance with the provisions of the Act shall constitute its General Body.

(2) ......

(3) ......

(4) ......"

"30. (1) A Society consisting of more than three hundred members, unless it is divided into two or more Societies or opts to re-determine and revise its membership in accordance with clause (ii) of sub-section (1) of section 32 and sub-section (2) of section 51, shall constitute a Collegium consisting of not less than twenty one and not more than three hundred members in accordance with its Bye-laws. The status of a Collegium in this case shall be the same in all respects as that of the General Body of a Society comprising of not more than three hundred members.

(2) ......

(3) ......."

"32. (1) Where a Society, registered prior to the coming into force of the Act, consists of more than three hundred members, it shall convene a meeting of its members to consider and resolve through a special resolution at least six months before the due date for election of Governing Body, -

(i) to continue with the present number of members; or

(ii) re-determine the number of members of the General Body by prescription of a revised criteria, including membership fee and annual subscription or special additional charges:

Provided that in case the number of members opting for any such revised criterion exceeds three hundred, the membership may be decided by draw of lots.

(2) Where the term of Governing Body is expiring before the expiry of six months from the commencement of the Act, it shall be deemed to have been extended up to six months from the date of commencement of the Act and t