ORDER

The Civil Revision Petition is filed against the order dated

02.08.2018 passed in I.A.No.721 of 2015 in O.S.No.452 of 2015 on the file of the I Additional District Munsif Court, Puducherry.

2. The petitioners are the defendants and the respondents in the suit.

3. The case of the plaintiffs before the trial Court is as follows:

The plaintiffs are the Pondicherry Football Association registered under the Societies Registration Act. In order to convene a general body meeting, for declaration and for other reliefs, the plaintiffs approached the trial Court by filing O.S.No.452 of 2015. Pending suit, the plaintiffs filed I.A.No.144/2015 seeking for an interim injunction restraining the defendants from conducting any special general body meeting on 01.03.2015. On hearing the defendants, interim injunction came to be passed, which was subsequently vacated by order dated 28.04.2015, against which, an appeal came to be filed in CMA No.4/2015 before the Additional Subordinate Judge, Puducherry. By judgment dated 26.03.2018, CMA No.4/2015 came to be dismissed, thereby confirming the order vacating the interim injunction. Since the petition to convene a general body meeting was dismissed, the defendants convened a meeting, wherein, it was resolved to conduct an election as per the procedure contemplated. As per the decision taken in the said meeting, the names of the President and Treasurer, viz., the name of the plaintiffs were removed. However, without challenging such removal, the plaintiffs filed I.A.No.472/2015 seeking for a relief of restraining the defendants from conducting the general body meeting and election, which was scheduled on 28.06.2015. When there was no challenge to the removal of their names as President and Treasurer and the conduct of general body meeting, the suit has become infructuous. In the said I.A.No.472/2015, an order of interim injunction was granted, which came to be suspended by the order of this Court dated 26.06.2015 in CRP No.2526 of 2015 with a direction to the defendants not to publish the results until further orders from this Court. As such, elections were conducted on 28.06.2015 and pursuant to the order of this Court, the results were withheld. Therefore, the defendants filed I.A.No.473/2018 to restrain the plaintiffs from convening a general body meeting on 24.06.2018 or any other dates. While that being so, the defendants filed I.A.No.721/2018 seeking to dispose the suit having become infructuous. A counter came to be filed by the plaintiffs resisting the said application stating that the reliefs that have been passed in the suit was still persist.

4. A common order came to be passed in the said I.A.Nos.472/2015, 473/2018 and 721/2018, whereby, the parties to the dispute are directed to approach the All India Football Federation for their appropriate reliefs. Challenging the said dismissal order, the present Civil Revision Petition came to be filed by the defendants.

5. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner/defendants and the learned counsel for the respondents/plaintiffs.

6. The learned counsel for the petitioners/defendants submitted that when the interlocutory applications were dismissed on the ground that the civil Court has no jurisdiction, it ought to have dismissed the suit as barred under law. Without doing so, the trial Court has erred in coming to the conclusion that the parties to the dispute have to approach the All India Football Federation, without the suit being dismissed. It is further submitted that when the memorandum of association of the Pondicherry Football Association and as per the bye-laws of the All India Football Federation, the dispute among the members can be resolved by other forum and not invoking the civil Court jurisdiction, the common order passed by the trial Court is liable to be set aside by holding that the suit itself is not maintainable, as per the memorandum of association and the byelaws.

7. However, the said contentions are refuted by the responde