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IN THE HIGH COURT OF ALLAHABAD
Sangeeta Chandra, J.
Khemraj Smarak Rashtriya Vidyapeeth Th.Secy Tej Pratap Singh - Petitioner
Vs.
State Of U.P Thru Prin Secy Institutional Finance Lko & Ors. - Respondent
MISC. SINGLE No. -4156 of 2017
Decided On : 17-01-2022
Societies Registration Act - Section 4B and 25(2) - Elections - By-laws and Renewal Certificate - Petitioners that was registered under provisions of Societies Registration Act at File No. and at the time of its registration General Body of Society had 15 members and strength has now increased to 4 - Elections of Committee of Management of Society were held - registered by-laws of Society were amended and Amendment duly registered in office of respondent n. 2 by which the term of Committee was increased to 5 years and periodical elections were thereafter held and next elections were due in month - Whether he had power to review earlier orders passed by his predecessor approving such amendment in bylaws.
Finding of the Court :
Office bearers’ tenure is two years which got over and elections were held again - Elections were due, which may or may not have been held, court cannot say as there are no pleadings on record - Subsequent elections have not been challenged - Divisional Commissioner, and District Magistrate, shall be Patron Members of Society and Deputy Registrar shall ensure elections of Committee of Management of Society as and when it falls due - If respondent nos.4 to 8 have inducted life members or ordinary members in General Body of Society, in meantime Deputy Registrar shall call for proceedings and verify membership in accordance with Section 4B of Act and proceed accordingly.
Result : Writ petition is dismissed.
JUDGMENT :
Sangeeta Chandra, J.
1. This writ petition has been filed by the petitioner which is a Society through its Secretary Tej Pratap Singh and one Pawan Kumar Singh son of Babban Singh, the President of the Society with the State of UP through the Deputy Registrar Faizabad and the SDM Ambedkar Nagar as respondents nos. 1,2 & 3 receptively and Narendra Pratap Singh, Raj Bahadur Vishwakarma, Vikramaditya Goswami, Rajkaran Verma, and Narendra Pratap Narain Singh as respondents no. 4 to 8 respectively. It is the case of the petitioners that Khemraj Smarak Rashtriya Vidyapeeth Sangh (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Society’) was registered on 19.11.1965 under the provisions of the Societies Registration Act at File No. 15328 and at the time of its registration the General Body of the Society had 15 members and the strength has now increased to 44. The Elections of the Committee of Management of the Society were held on 30.11.1965, 30.11.1967, 30.11.1969, 30.11.1971, 30.11.1973, 30.11.1975, 30.11.1977, and 30.11.1979.
2. On 11.10.1980 the registered by-laws of the Society were amended and the Amendment duly registered on 29.11.1980 in the office of the respondent n. 2 by which the term of the Committee was increased to 5 years and periodical elections were thereafter held on 30.11.1983, 4.4.1988, 30.4.1993, 1.4.1998, 1.4.2003, and 1.4.2008 and the next elections were due in the month of April 2013. It has also been submitted that after registration of the Society its renewal has been done from time to time and the last renewal was done for a period of five years with effect from 10.10. 2005.
3. On 31.02.1985 one Hira Singh along with five others made a complaint before the opposite party no.2 against the amendment in the by-laws and Renewal Certificate being issued to the office bearers of the petitioner-Society. The complaint of Hira Singh and five others was rejected by the opposite party nos. 2 on 05.07.1986 with liberty to the complainant to file a case under Section 25 (1) of the Act before the Prescribed Authority for redressal of their grievance. Hira Singh along with others filed a case under Section 25 (1) of the Act on 23.10.1986 but it was dismissed for non prosecution on 09.05.1988. No application for recall of the order was made thereafter and the order became final.
4. The Society continued to function since 1980 under the amended by-laws. One Shri Dinesh Pratap Singh son of Hira Singh, who was a stranger to the Society made a frivolous complaint before the opposite party no. 2 on 19.12.2009 and notices were issued by the opposite party no. 2 to the petitioners. The petitioners replied and raised a preliminary objection regarding the maintainability of the complaint and about the locus of Dinesh Pratap Singh. Thereafter, Shri Dinesh Pratap Singh again made a complaint on 24.4.2010 raising a question about the affairs of the petitioners-Society. The petitioners again raised objections regarding locus of the complainant. Thereafter for the first time the opposite party number 4 to 8 and three other persons Late Surendra Bahadur Singh, Late Thakur Prasad Singh and Late Udaybhan Singh filed an affidavit on 16.05. 2010 that they were life members of the Society right from the time of its creation and that no meeting was held in the Society after its establishment and forged proceedings were submitted for Renewal Certificates and the Deputy Registrar should declare the Managing Committee of the Society time-barred and recognise the applicants as valid members. On 15.4.2011, the opposite party no.2 erroneously declared all elections of the Society after 29.11.1967 to have been held by a Committee of Management which was defunct and that such elections could not be recognised.
5. The petitioners being aggrieved filed a writ petition before this Court namely Writ Petition No. 2816 (MS) of 2011 challenging the order dated 15.04.2011. The writ petition was dismissed. The Court directed the opposite party no. 2 to hold fresh elect
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