COMMON ORDER

Both the writ petitions have been filed by the same petitioner A.Rajendran son of Arokiayasamy, primarily raising grievance against the manner in which the administration of Thiruvarur Vijayapuram Chamber of Commerce, a registered society under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975 (the Act) was being conducted.

2.W.P.No.33184 of 2022 has been filed in the nature of Mandamus seeking a direction against the 2nd respondent, the District Registrar, Registrar of Societies, Thiruvarur District to stay all further proceedings consequent to the election notice dated 20.11.2022 issued by the 3rd and 4th respondents namely, the President, C.Balamurugan of Thiruvarur Vijayapuram Chamber of Commerce and Arun Gandhi, the Election Officer / Member, Thiruvarur Vijayapuram Chamber of Commerce. The election was for the selection of office bearers and executive members of the society.

3.W.P.No.34473 of 2022 has also been filed in the nature of Mandamus seeking a direction against the 1st and 2nd respondents namely, the Inspector General of Registration at Chennai and the District Registrar, Registrar of Societies at Thiruvarur, to conduct an enquiry with respect to the inspection reports of the District Registrar dated 01.09.2015 and 21.01.2016 with the records submitted and available with the 1st and 2nd respondents relating to the administration of the office bearers of Thiruvarur Vijayapuram Chamber of Commerce, Thiruvarur.

4.Since arguments in both the writ petitions overlapped and the grievances of the petitioner in both the writ petitions also overlapped, a common order is passed in both the writ petitions.

W.P.No.33184 of 2022:

5.In the affidavit filed in support of W.P.No.33184 of 2022, the writ petitioner, claiming to be a member of Thiruvarur Vijayapuram Chamber of Commerce stated that the office bearers had been elected in violation of the bye laws in the year 2015. The petitioner claims that he had given a representation relating to misappropriation of the funds of the society. He also stated that the 1st respondent namely, the Inspector General of Registration, had directed the 2nd respondent, the District Registrar, Registrar of Societies, Thiruvarur, to inspect the society. Inspections were conducted on 09.01.2015 and again on 21.01.2016. It was stated that inspite of the inspection report, wherein according to the petitioner, violations were found, no actions were taken against the office bearers.

6.In this connection, the petitioner had also earlier filed W.P.No.35530 of 2015 seeking fresh elections to be conducted with the eligible members and to also conduct an enquiry relating to the misfeasance and malfeasance allegedly committed by the office bearers. A learned Single Judge of this Court had passed an order and it is claimed that it had been observed that the inspection conducted showed that the Executive Committee members had been selected even without conducting the elections and that the audit statement for the year 2021 – 2022 reflected that a sum of Rs.53,800/- was paid for the purpose of enrolment of new members. It was also stated that 487 members were added illegally. It was also stated from the inspection report on 29.01.2022 that the bye laws of the society were corrected and amended by the members of the General Body against the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975. It was further stated that there were 789 members in the year 2012. However, the Election Officer conducted the election on 27.12.2020 with 1200 members.

7.There was yet another writ petition in W.P.No.6927 of 2022, filed by another member seeking disposal of his representation dated 31.01.2022. The petitioner claimed that the bye laws were unlawfully amended and 487 members had been illegally enrolled. It was also stated that the elections were not conducted in the year 2018. It was also stated that the election notification dated 20.11.2022 had been issued against the bye laws of the society and it was sta