JUDGMENT

The appeal is directed against the judgment and decree, dated

14.09.2007 made in A.S.No.29 of 2006, on the file of the learned Subordinate Judge, Sivakasi, reversing the judgment and decree, dated 20.06.2006, made in O.S.No.64 of 2001, on the file of the learned District Munsif, Sattur.

2. For the sake of convenience, the parties are referred to, as described before the trial Court.

3. The averments made in the plaint, in brief, are as follows:-

3(a). The first defendant 'Sattur Hindu Nadars Edward School Committee' is registered under the Companies Act in the year 1919 with an object of advancing education, literary, technical and physical activities and to inculcate sound moral principles in the pupils in order to make them efficient citizens. With this avowed object, the Articles of Association and Memorandum of Association were registered on 15.3.1919 itself before the Registrar of Companies at Madras.

3(b). To achieve the above object, the generous and philanthropic minded people from Hindu Nadar community were contributing funds and other resources to the first-defendant-committee. Thus, the first-defendant- school grew from an elementary school to a Higher Secondary School level, educating hundreds of pupils every year. Now, the Government of Tamil Nadu is also extending aid to this defendant-school.

3(c). The first-defendant-school-committee consists of 24 members, out of them 20 members shall be selected directly from ;the General Body of Voters maintained by the first-defendant-committee. The remaining four members to be elected indirectly by those 20 elected members from among the voters list maintained by the first-defendant. There will be six board of directors, out of them three will be ex-officio board of directors, who will act as President, Vice-President and Secretary and the remaining three will be elected from among the committee members. As per clause V of the Articles of Association, all the adult males, who are above the age of 18, from the Hindu Nadar community of Sattur are eligible for membership of the committee with voting right. It is significant to note that an application from an adult male member of the Hindu Nadar Community of Sattur is a condition precedent to enlist him as a member of the first-defendant committee. This condition is prescribed by the founding fathers of the committee in order to maintain a transparency in the membership and also make large-scale of male members of Hindu Nadars of Sattur to have active participation in the committee, thereby serving the avowed object for which the school-committee was formulated.

3(d). The grievance of the plaintiffs is that for the past two decades, people with vested interests have got control of the committee and have given a go-by to the democratic methods to be followed in the election of members, on the other hand engaged their own yes-men. Thus the present President and Secretary are the inheritors of such persons with vested interests and the present committee members are thus selected through back-door methods with foul means.

3(e). The further grievance of the plaintiffs is that resultant effect of the mismanagement with rampant corruption is that the educational institutions of the school-committee lost their stature and there is disharmony among its teachers and employees leading to chaotic atmosphere. The school campus which was known for conducting tournaments, has now become a den of immorality and being led by people with vested interests who have hijacked the school-committee and keeping it as their captive and thereby the noble object of the committee to inculcate sound moral principles among the pupils is lost.

3(f). The plaintiffs state that the first plaintiff is a doctor by profession and the second plaintiff is a business man with equally good qualification. Both of them are with reputation and respect in Sattur. They along with other reputed Hindu nadars of Sattur approached the committee several times requiring them t