IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA Civil Appellate Jurisdiction Original Side APOT/78/2025 WITH CS/13/2025 IA NO: GA/1/2025, GA/2/2025 JAI SURANA VS THE CALCUTTA SWIMMING CLUB AND ORS.

BEFORE: The Hon'ble JUSTICE ARIJIT BANERJEE AND The Hon'ble JUSTICE RAI CHATTOPADHYAY For Appellant : Mr. Ratnanko Banerji, Sr. Adv.

Mr. Jishnu Choudhury, Sr. Adv.

Mr. Rudrajit Sarkar, Adv.

Mr. Dhruv Surana, Adv.

Mr. Debangshu Dinda, Adv.

For Respondent no. 1 & 2 : Mr. Anindya Kr. Mitra, Sr. Adv.

Mr. Sarvapriya Mukherjee, Adv. Mr. Yash Vardhan Kochar, Adv.

Mr. Souradeep Banerjee, Adv.

Ms. Shruti Pal, Adv.

Ms. Priyanka Garain, Adv.

For Respondent no. 3 & 4 Mr. Abhrajit Mitra, Sr. Adv.

Mr. Anirban Ray, Sr. Adv.

Mr. Yash Vardhan Kochar, Adv.

Mr. Souradeep Banerjee, Adv.

Mr. B. N. Joshi, Adv.

Ms. D. Mukherji, Adv.

Respondent no.13 Mr. Sudhir Kumar Mehta, Sr. Adv.

Mr. Anuj Singh, Adv.

Mr. Anurag Bagaria, Adv.

CAV on : 18.06.2025 Judgment on : 24.06.2025 Arijit Banerjee, J. :-

1. This appeal is directed against a judgment and order dated March 20, 2025. By the order impugned, learned Single Judge refused to grant ad interim relief to the appellant/plaintiff and directed exchange of affidavits.

2. The plaintiff essentially challenges a notice dated January 30, 2025, issued by the respondent Club placing the plaintiff under suspension and a notice dated February 6, 2025, whereby the appellant/plaintiff has been called upon to nominate members of the Club to represent the appellant before a Special Board for considering the issue of expulsion of the appellant from membership of the Club.

3. The appellant says that he is a member of the Club for the last 30 years. He is also a past President of the Club.

4. By a WhatsApp message addressed to the members of the Club, the appellant pointed out certain alleged financial irregularities in the annual accounts of the Club which were to be placed for confirmation at the Annual General Meeting (in short ‘AGM’) scheduled to be held on September 28, 2024. The AGM was duly held. According to the appellant, the issues raised by him in his WhatsApp message were deliberated upon and the matter ended there.

5. However, after lapse of about 2 weeks, the appellant received an e- mail from the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Secretary of the Club calling upon the appellant to confirm whether the said WhatsApp message was indeed circulated by him. Thereafter, there was exchange of correspondence between the CEO of the Club and the appellant. The appellant questioned the authority or jurisdiction of the CEO to call for such confirmation. By a letter dated October 24, 2024, the CEO of the Club requested the appellant to appear before the Members Relationship Committee (in short ‘MRC’) on October 28, 2024, at 1800 hours to explain the contents of the WhatsApp message referred to above.

6. By an e-mail dated October 27, 2024, the appellant expressed his inability to be present before the MRC on October 28, 2024, as he would not be in Kolkata.

7. Thereafter, a meeting was held before the MRC on November 8, 2024, which was attended by the appellant. The entire meeting was video graphed. Learned Senior Counsel for the appellant says that till date the Minutes of the Meeting dated November 8, 2024, held before the MRC, have not been made available to the appellant in spite of repeated requests and demands. However, a copy of the video recording has been supplied to the appellant but the same cannot be a substitute for the Minutes of the Meeting. On January 27, 2025, the appellant attended a meeting before the Executive Committee of the Club as he was requested to do. By a mail dated January 30, 2025, sent to the appellant by the CEO of the Club on behalf of the Executive Committee, the appellant was placed under suspension under Rule 22 (b) (ii) & (iii) of the Rules and Bye-laws (Revised 2023) of the Calcutta Swimming Club. Subsequently a notice dated February 6, 2025, was issued by the Club asking the appellant to nominate members of the Club who could repre