IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION No. 6981 of 2012 For Approval and Signature:
HONOURABLE THE ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE MR.BHASKAR BHATTACHARYA AND HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE J.B.PARDIWALA ========================================== ===============
========================================================= JIGNESH J PATEL Versus PRINCIPAL DISTRICT AND SESSIONS JUDGE - SURAT & ANR.
========================================== =============== Appearance :
MR HARDIK C RAWAL for Petitioner.
========================================== =============== Date : 13/07/2012
CAV JUDGMENT
(Per : HONOURABLE THE ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE MR.BHASKAR BHATTACHARYA)
1. By this application under under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the writ-petitioner, a member of a Club, has prayed for issue of a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction for the purpose of quashing and setting aside the impugned order dated 30th April 2012 passed by the respondent No.2 and to set aside clause No. 26(2) of the constitution of the said Club by declaring the same to be unconstitutional, ultra virus and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India.
2. The case made out by the petitioner may be summed up thus:
2.1 Surat Officers' Gymkhana [for brevity, SOG, hereinafter], a recreation club having five-star facilities, was established in 1896 at the time of the British rule and normally judicial officers as well as Class-I Government Officers were the members of the said Club. In 1984, after the independence of India, the constitution of SOG was reintroduced, and clause 26 of the constitution of SOG stipulates that District Collector of Surat shall be the President and the learned Principal District & Sessions Judge of Surat shall be the Vice President of SOG.
2.2 The petitioner challenges the order dated 30th April 2012 passed by the Respondent No.2 by virtue of which membership of the petitioner of SOG was terminated by the President, and that too, without giving him any opportunity of hearing and without issuing even a show cause notice.
2.3 According to the constitution of SOG, the Principal District and Sessions Judge, Surat is the Vice President of the Club and eight subordinate judicial officers are member of SOG. The post of Vice President, according to the petitioner, involves administrative functions and as a result, provides chance and opportunities to the members of the club to come in constant close contact with the judicial officers, which also includes people with malicious intentions and dubious reputation about which the members, who are judicial officers, may be in complete dark.
2.4 According to the petitioner, status, dignity, independence and decorum of the post of Principal District and Sessions Judge is compromised when an executive / bureaucrat is made the President and the highest judicial officer of the District is made the Vice President.
3. After hearing the learned advocate for the petitioner and after going through the materials on record including the constitution of SOG, a copy of which has been annexed to the petition, we find that SOG being a private club, there is no scope of maintaining an application under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for setting aside order dated 30th April 2012 or clause 26(2) of the constitution of SOG being unconstitutional and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. SOG, in our considered opinion, is not a 'State' within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution of India.
4. On the above ground alone, we dismiss this writ- application summarily . However, we make it clear that we have otherwise not gone into the merits of the order impugned in the writ-application and dismissal of this writ-application will not stand in the way of the writ-petitioner in seeking appropriate remedy before the appropriate forum in accordance with law.
5. However, after going through the constitution of SOG and after taking into consideration the fact that several judicial officers are the members of the said club, we direct the Registry to place the matter before the Standing Committee, drawing attention of the Committee to the constitution of SOG of which substantial number of judicial officers are members.
[BHASKAR BHATTACHARYA, ACTING C.J.] mathew [J.B.PARDIWALA. J.]