THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE N.V.SHRAVAN KUMAR WRIT PETITION No.13314 of 2024

ORDER

The petitioner is aggrieved by the action of respondent No.2 in not considering the petitioner’s representation dated

03.05.2024.

2. The facts of the case in brief are that the petitioner is represented by its President and submits that their Association is registered under the provisions of Societies Registration Act, 2001 by name “Telangana State Chess Association” under Registered No.603 of 2015, which is affiliated to All India Chess Association recognized by Telangana Olympic Association, Sports Authority, Telangana State with its registered office situated at # 205, 2^nd floor, Kubera Towers, Narayanaguda, Hyderabad. It is further submitted that the entire operations are in line with the registered by-laws and are strictly conducted by the Management Committee, which is elected by a vote of mandate and the present body is elected on 17.01.2021 in compliance with the orders passed by this Court in I.A.No.1 of 2020 in W.P.No.22963 of 2020, dated 16.12.2020 and the petitioner is acting as President and performing their obligations with guidelines and directions as contemplated under law and maintaining all statutory records. It is further submitted that as a part of the main activity, the Association is scheduled to conduct “MARVEL ALL INDIA OPEN FIDE RATING CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP – 2024” starting from 01.05.2024 to

08.05.2024.

3. The case of the petitioner is that the respondent No.2 resorted to illegally stopping the operation of their bank account vide C.A.No.3639814775, Central Bank of India, Fathemaidhan Branch, Hyderabad in terms of honoring the cheques / payments issued / drawn on the account despite having clear credit balance in the account and on enquiry, the respondent No.2 orally submitted that he has instructions to freeze the account and refused to give any details. It is further submitted that the petitioner’s Association directly deals with conducting sports events and they have clear track record and all payments are routed through their current account.

4. The main grievance of the petitioner is that after completing the event, they would be under severe pressure from vendors for clearing the payments for their respective services, for which, the bank account should be fully operational for availing services of issuance of cheques and cash withdrawals in the interest of the Association. In view of the freezing of their current account, they are not in a position to pay the advance payment or release post function payments.

5. Aggrieved by the action of respondent No.2, the petitioner made a representation on 03.05.2024 and requested for immediate action. When such efforts went in vain, the petitioner society filed the present Writ Petition.

6. The Senior Manager of respondent No.2 Bank filed counter submitting that the petitioner claims to be the elected member of the Society’s executive committee. However, another member by name Major K.A.Shiva Prasad claims to be the newly elected member of a different executive body with the same Association and submitted an extract of Minutes of Association’s General Body meeting held on 23.04.2023. It is further submitted that there is an internal dispute among the members and the bank had received letters dated 23.02.2024 and 26.02.2024 enclosing the Minutes of General Body meeting of the Association held on 23.04.2023, which discloses that a new body of the Association elected Mr. K.A.Shiva Prasad and Mr. M.Anjaiah as President and Vice President of the Association, who has informed to freeze the current account of the Association, as there are disputes among the members of the Association. It is further submitted that the petitioner was informed about the letter for freezing the account and on 26.02.2024, a message to that effect was sent to the petitioner through WhatsApp with a request to visit the branch to show the letters / documents for freezing the account. It is further submitted that t