Back
HIGH COURT OF ALLAHABAD
O.P.Garg
COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT SRI JANTA AUDYOGIK VIDYALAYA
Versus
DEPUTY REGISTRAR FIRMS SOCIETIES AND CHITS KANPUR REGION KANPUR
Decided On : 30 August 1998
C. M. W. R No. 28425 of 1997
SOCIETIES REGISTRATION ACT - SECTIONS 3-A, 4, 25 - RENEWAL OF CERTIFICATE OF REGISTRATION - DISPUTE ABOUT ELECTION OF COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT - JURISDICTION OF DEPUTY REGISTRAR AND PRESCRIBED AUTHORITY - INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION.
Fact of the Case:
The petitioner, a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, challenged the renewal of its certificate of registration granted to a rival faction by the Deputy Registrar, Firms, Societies and Chits, Kanpur. The petitioner contended that the Deputy Registrar had no jurisdiction to pass the impugned order and should have referred the dispute to the Prescribed Authority under Section 25 of the Act.
Finding of the Court:
The court held that the Deputy Registrar had the jurisdiction to renew the certificate of registration under Section 3-A of the Act and that the dispute about the election of the committee of management should have been referred to the Prescribed Authority under Section 25 of the Act. However, the court found that the impugned order did not suffer from any illegality and was passed after consideration of the material available on record. Therefore, the court dismissed the petition.
Issues: 1. Whether the Deputy Registrar had the jurisdiction to renew the certificate of registration under Section 3-A of the Act? 2. Whether the dispute about the election of the committee of management should have been referred to the Prescribed Authority under Section 25 of the Act?
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The court held that the Deputy Registrar had the jurisdiction to renew the certificate of registration under Section 3-A of the Act. The court relied on the decision in Shambhu Kumar Tripathi v. Asstt. Registrar, Firms Societies and Chits, AIR 1994 All 209, which held that the Registrar has the exclusive jurisdiction to renew the certificate of registration of a society. 2. The court held that the dispute about the election of the committee of management should have been referred to the Prescribed Authority under Section 25 of the Act. The court relied on the decision in Kranti Kumar Chaturvedi & Ors. v. District Inspector of Schools Kanpur and Ors., 1995 (3) ESC 166 (All), which held that Section 25 of the Act is attracted when there is a dispute between two rival parties each of whom is claiming to be a validly elected body.
Final Decision: The court dismissed the petition.
In this writ petition, the validity of the order dated 18-8-1997, Annexure-7 to the writ petition, passed by the Deputy Registrar, Firms, Societies and Chits, Kanpur has been challenged by the petitioner- Committee of Management Janta Audyogik Vidyalaya, Sherpur Gurha, Kanpur Dehat through its Secretary/manager, Vir Sen Yadav. Counter and rejoinder- affidavits have been exchanged. With the consent of the learned Counsel for the parties, this writ petition is finally disposed of.
2. Heard Sri Ashok Khare, learned Counsel for the petitioners and Sri V. K. Shukla, learned Counsel for the respon dent Nos. 2 and 3.
3. Sri Janta Audyogik Vidyalaya, Sherpur, Gurha, Kanpur Dehat is a society which was registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 on 9-1-1963. The renewal of the certificate of registration of the said society was made on 19-3-1994 for a period of 5 years commencing from 10-10-1990 on the application of Ram Swarup Yadav, the then Manager/secretary. List of the Committee of Management and its office bearers of the year 1993-94 was filed. At that time, there were only 12 members of the general body. Shiv Lal Singh, Respondent No. 3 applied for renewal of the certificate of registra tion for a period of 5 years and filed the necessary documents as required under Section 4 of the Societies Registration Act. The petitioners filed objections before the Deputy Registrar who by the impugned order dated 18-8- 1997 came to the conclusion that the papers filed by Shiv Lal for renewal of the certificate of registration under Section 3-A of the Societies Registration Act (hereinafter referred to as the Act) are acceptable and accordingly by invoking the powers under Section 4 (1), list of the committee of management of the year 1997-98 was registered and renewal for 5 years w. e. f. 10-10-1995 was allowed and the objec tions filed by Vir Sen Yadav were rejected.
4. Sri Ashok Khare, learned Counsel for the petitioners challenged the im pugned order on the ground that no op portunity of hearing was given to the petitioners and in effect, the impugned order is merely ex pane. It was also urged that the Deputy Registrar had no jurisdic tion to pass the impugned order as the only course left open to him was to have referred the dispute about the election of the rival committees of management to the Prescribed Authority under Section 25 of the Act. Sri VK. Shukla repelled all these submissions.
5. On behalf of the petitioners, it was urged that the Registrar himself has no jurisdiction under Section 4 (1) of the Act to hear and decide any doubt or dispute in respect of an election or continuance in office of an office bearer of a society and, therefore, any decision given by him in this regard will be wholly without jurisdiction. Sri Khare maintains that the Dy. Registrar was under the law bound to refer the dis pute of the nature raised before him to the Prescribed Authority. In support of his contention, Sri Khare placed reliance on the following decisions:
(1) 1981 UPLBEC308 (DB) Vijay Narain Singh v. Registrar, Firms, Societies and Chits, U. P. Lucknow A Ors. ;
(2 ). (1987) 1 UPLBEC 333 Committee of Management and Ors. v. Zila Basic Siksha Adhikari & Ors. ;
(3) (1988) 1 UPLBEC 515 (DB) Purva Bazar Educational Society, Gorakhpur v. Asstt. Registrar, Firms Chits and Societies, Gorakhpur.
(4) AIR 1988 Allahabad 236 All India Council andanrv. Firms, Societies and Chits.
(5) 1991 AWC 1311 Muslim Welfare Society Machlinagar v. Asstt. Registrar, Firms, Societies and Chits.
(6) 1993 (2) UPLBEC 890 Khoproha Educational Society & Ors. v. Asstt. Registrar, Firms Societies and Chits.
(7) 1994 HVD (Alld) Vol. Ill 389 (DB) Company Management v. Asstt. Registrar, Firms Societies and Chits.
The gamut of all these rulings is that if there is any doubt or dispute about the election of the committee of management or the office bearers, such a dispute cannot be resolved by Deputy Registrar in exer cise of his powers under Sections 3-A
An indispensable Tool for Legal Professionals, Endorsed by Various High Court and Judicial Officers
Please visit our Training & Support
Center or Contact Us for assistance
Scan Me!
India’s Legal research and Law Firm App, Download now!
For Daily Legal Updates, Join us on :
Back to top
