2026:CGHC:1821 AFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WPC No. 1945 of 2025 Reserved on : 05.01 .2026 Delivered on : 13.01.2026 Karta Ram Gupta S/o Shri Jagnnath Gupta Aged About 74 Years R/o House No. 04, M.G. Road, Maharani Lakshmi Bai Ward, Banaas Chowk, Jawahar Nagar, Ambikapur Chhattisgarh, Tehsil And District Sarguja Chhattisgarh.

... Petitioner(s)

versus

1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through Chief Secretary, Chhattisgarh, Mahanadi Bhawan, Atal Nagar, Nava Raipur Chhattisgarh.

2 - Secretary To Governor Raj Bhawan, Raipur C.G. Tehsil And District Raipur Chhattisgarh.

3 - Deputy Secretary To Governor Raj Bhawan, Raipur Chhattisgarh, Tehsil And District Raipur Chhattisgarh.

4 - Chief Executive Officer Indian Red Cross Society, State Of Chhattisgarh Branch, Head Quarter - Iind Floor, Collectorate Premises, Raipur C.G. Tehsil And District Raipur Chhattisgarh.

5 - Secretary Indian Red Cross Society, State Of Chhattisgarh Branch, Head Quarter - Iind Floor, Collectorate Premises, Raipur C.G. Tehsil And District Raipur Chhattisgarh.

6 - Election Officer And Joint Collector Shri Manish Mishra, Collectorate Premises, Tahsil And District Raipur Chhattisgarh.

7 - Shri Toman Sahu S/o Shri Bhop Singh Sahu Aged About 40 Years Chairman R/o Balod, District- Balod (C.G.)

8 - Shri Rupesh Panigrahi S/o Shri K. Panigrahi Aged About 42 Years Vice Chairman Chairman, R/o Sanna Road, Jashpur, District- Jashpur (C.G.)

9 - Shri Sanjay Patel S/o Shri Nanu Bhai Patel Aged About 45 Years Treasurer, Address- Bajrang Restorent, Ambedkar Chouk Raipur Road, Balodabazar, District- Balodabazar (C.G.)

... Respondents For Petitioner : Ms. Meena Shastri, Advocate.

For State : Mr. Praveen Das, Addl. A.G. with Mr. Shreyansh Mehta, Panel Lawyer.

For Resp. No. 7 to 9 : Mr. Himanshu Pandey & Mr. Ashutosh Mishra, Advocates.

Hon'ble Shri Narendra Kumar Vyas, J.

CAV ORDER

1. This petition has been filed by the petitioner for declaring the election process of Indian Red Cross Society Chhattisgarh State Management Digitally signed by ARUN ARUN KUMAR KUMAR DEWANGAN DEWANGAN Date:

2026.01.13 +0530 Committee for 2024-2027 held on 11.04.2026 as null and void and also for conducting afresh election.

2. The brief facts as reflected from records are that:-

(A) The petitioner is a life member of the Indian Red Cross Society, Chhattisgarh State Branch (for short “the Society”). It is case of the petitioner that as per the provisions of Indian Red Cross Societies Act, 1920 (for short “the Act, 1920”), the Collector of the District will be the President of District Indian Red Cross Society and the Chief Medical and Health Officer of the District will be Secretary of the District Indian Red Cross Society accordingly, the President and the Secretary of Ambikapur District Red Cross Society have nominated the petitioner for attending the meeting of State Management Committee vide memo dated 09.04.2025 as District representative of District Society Surguja for election for election of State Level Society for the period 2024-2027 as per the Indian Red Cross Society Branch Committee Rules, 2017 (for short “the Rules, 2017”).

(B) It is also case of the petitioner that the petitioner marked his presence in the meeting and signed in the attendance sheet as well as meeting register but the Chief Executive Officer did not allow him to cast his vote which is in violation of the the Rules, 2017. It is also case of the petitioner that as per Schedule-I Rule 10 (2) of the Rules, 2017, the petitioner is the life member and Rule 7(b) of the Rules, 2017, he has right to cast vote. It is also case of the petitioner that as per Schedule-III Rule 12, the Management Committee of the State and Union Territory will consist of Chairman, Treasurer, Vice-Chairman who shall be elected by the Management Committee from amongst themselves in the first meeting held after its composition or election.

Four members of the State or Union Territory Branch from amongst of patrons, vice-patrons and life members of the branch as decided by t