Court No. - 7
Case :- WRIT - C No. - 22871 of 2019 Petitioner :- C/M Bhagwati Dham Junior High School And Another Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Vinod Kumar Singh Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.,Mritunjay Mohan Sahai
Hon'ble Ajay Bhanot,J.
By the order dated 20.06.2019 passed by the Assistant Registrar, Firms, Societies and Chits, Varanasi, the membership as well as the election claim set up by the respondent no. 3, has been validated. The order dated 20.06.2019 is assailed in the writ petition.
Sri Vinod Kumar Singh, learned counsel for the petitioners, contends that the order dated 20.06.2019 has been passed in the teeth of the judgment and order rendered by this Court on 07.12.2016 in Writ-C No. 44554 of 2015 (C/M Bhagwati Dham Junior High School Thru' Manager and 2 others Vs State of U.P. and 6 others). The operative portion of the judgment rendered by this Court in Writ-C No. 44554 of 2015 (C/M Bhagwati Dham Junior High School Thru' Manager and 2 others Vs State of U.P. and 6 others) being germane to the controversy is extracted here under:-
"In view of the discussions aforesaid, the order of Prescribed Authority is found to be without jurisdiction, and as such, the same cannot be sustained.
Writ petition, consequently, succeeds and is allowed. Order passed by the Prescribed Authority, dated 14.07.2015, as well as consequential order passed by the District Inspector of Schools, dated 28.7.2015, are set aside. Since the dispute of the year 2007 has lost much of its relevance with the passage of time, and on account of subsequent developments, no useful purpose would be served in remitting the matter back to the Prescribed Authority. It is, however, clarified that all issues are left open to be gone into by the authority concerned, while examining the validity of subsequent elections."
The election claim set up by the respondent no. 3 dated 19.03.2016 was on the foot of the order of the Prescribed Authority dated 14.07.2015. Once the order of the Prescribed Authority dated 14.07.2015 was quashed by this Court, all consequential actions in pursuance of the order of the Prescribed Authority shall be rendered null and void. Hence, the elections of 19.03.2016 are devoid of any validity.
However overlooking the aforesaid facts, the Assistant Registrar, Firms, Societies and Chits, Varanasi, the impugned order places exclusive reliance on the elections dated 19.03.2016, to legitimise and uphold the claim of the list of members as well as election set up by respondent no. 3.
Sri M. M. Sahai, learned counsel for the respondent no. 3 does not dispute the aforesaid submissions and submits that the same are borne out from the record. He, however, contends that the list of members submitted by the respondent no. 3 is valid and may be verified by the competent authority.
Learned Standing Counsel also submits that the contention of Sri Vinod Kumar Singh, learned counsel for the petitioners are based on records which cannot be disputed.
Clearly, in light of the submissions made by learned counsel for the parties, the order dated 20.06.2019 passed by the Assistant Registrar, Firms, Societies and Chits, Varanasi, becomes vulnerable to judicial review. The issue of valid membership has to be determined after due enquiry as per law.
With consent of Sri Vinod Kumar Singh, learned counsel for the petitioner and Sri M.M.Sahai, learned counsel for the respondents, the order dated 20.06.2019 is quashed and the matter is remitted to the respondent no. 2, Assistant Registrar, Firms, Societies and Chits, Varanasi to execute the following directions:
I. The Assistant Registrar, Firms, Societies and Chits, Varanasi, shall determine the membership of the society, in accordance with the procedure prescribed under Section 4-B of the U.P. Societies Registration Act.
II. The determination of membership, shall be made by the Assistant Registrar, Firms, Societies and Chits, Varanasi, after giving an opportunity of hearing, to all concerned parties, including the parties before this Court.
III. The parties shall appear before the Assistant Registrar, Firms, Societies and Chits, Varanasi. The parties shall exchange their respective pleadings and relied on documents.
IV. The Assistant Registrar, Firms, Societies and Chits, Varanasi, shall record a finding in the proceedings book, regarding service of pleadings and documents relied on by the parties upon their respective adversaries.
V. In case some necessary parties, are not before this Court, they too shall also be noticed and will be entitled to an opportunity of hearing before the Assistant Registrar, Firms, Societies and Chits, Varanasi. The said parties shall also be provided with copies of the pleadings and documents of their respective adversaries.
VI. The Assistant Registrar, Firms, Societies and Chits, Varanasi, shall return a finding in this regard in the proceedings book.
VII. The Assistant Registrar, Firms, Societies and Chits, Varanasi, shall fix a date of hearing and intimate the said date to the concerned parties. The Assistant Registrar, Firms, Societies and Chits, Varanasi, shall hear the parties on the date fixed.
VIII. The list of valid membership of the society, shall be decided by the Assistant Registrar, Firms, Societies and Chits, Varanasi by a reasoned order in accordance with law.
IX. The entire exercise of calling the parties, hearing and deciding the matter as per law, shall be completed by the Assistant Registrar, Firms, Societies and Chits, Varanasi within a period of four months from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order.
X. After the determination of the membership, the Assistant Registrar, Firms, Societies and Chits, Varanasi, shall take steps to hold elections of the society, under Section 25(2) of the U.P. Societies Registration Act, preferably, within a period of one month, from the date of such determination.
The writ petition is disposed of finally.
Order Date :- 26.8.2019 Dhananjai