The Doctor Zakir Hussain College Society vs The District Registrar Cum Registrar of Societies

M. Venugopal, J.—Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Additional Government Pleader appearing for the respondent.

The petitioner has filed the present writ petition praying for passing of an order by this Court in calling for the records relating to the proceedings of the impugned order in Na.Ka.No. 2556/A2/2014 dated 29.09.2014 from the file of the respondent and quash the same. Further, he has sought for passing of an order by this Court in directing the respondent to register in its records the Form No. VII dated 23.06.2014 filed by the petitioner in respect of the petitioner Society.

According to the learned counsel for the petitioner, the respondent has passed the impugned order dated 29.09.2014 in an illegal and arbitrary manner. Further, the respondent has no jurisdiction to keep Form No. VII pending for any reason except for the specific order from a Court of Law.

Advancing his argument, the learned counsel for the petitioner vehemently submits that the jurisdiction of the respondent under Rule 17(2) of Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975 is only to receive the Form No. VII in question and to take it on file particularly when there is no rival or brutal claim in the matter in issue.

Expatiating his submissions, the learned counsel for the petitioner proceeds to project an argument that the respondent is not correct while placing reliance on the pendency of cases to keep the Form No. VII pending as mentioned by him in the impugned order dated 29.09.2014, when there is no specific order against the respondent in any one of the cases. That apart, the W.P.No. 13418 of 2011 referred to in the impugned order is filed for a direction to quash the order of District Registrar in the year 2011, rejecting the Form No. VII submitted by one A.E.A1 Ameen and that the said writ petition has become infructuous and as on date, it has no relevancy to the present election. In any event, it is continuously submitted on behalf of the petitioner that the said writ petition would not prevent the petitioner to conduct the election for the term 2014 - 2017 and to submit Form No. VII. That apart, a civil suit in O.S.No. 41 of 2012 filed by one P.K.M.Rasool Khan for the same relief as claimed in O.S.No. 73 of 2012 has become infructuous one and in any case, there is no order against the petitioner restraining him to conduct the election and the respondent from accepting Form No. VII. Further more, in O.S.No. 90 of 2013 filed by 8 persons, who were removed from the membership of the society for acting against the interest of the society, the said persons had challenged the order of removal and the said suit is also not concerned with the acceptance of Form VII of the committee elected in the election held on 22.06.2014. That apart, in O.S.No. 33 of 2014 filed by one M.S.M.Amanullah Khan for setting aside the election held on 22.06.2014 and to restrain the respondent from taking on file the Form No. VII, the trial Court had refused to grant any interim injunction and as on today, there is no legal impediment for the respondent to take the Form No. VII on file, as contended on behalf of the petitioner.

At this stage, the learned counsel for the petitioner invites the attention of this Court in W.P.No. 14167 of 2014 filed by the petitioner in which, this Court on 27.08.2014, had directed the respondent therein to accept the Form No. VII and only pursuant to the order of this Court, the respondent had passed the impugned order which cannot be countenanced in the eye of law. At this juncture, the learned counsel for the petitioner made reference to Rule-17 of Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975 which runs as under:

Filing of copy of the register of members and notice of change of members or committee:- (1) A copy of the register of members maintained by the society under sub-section (1) of Section 14, if not filed at the time of registration of the society, shall be filed with the Registrar within one month from the date of registration of the society.

(2) The notice of any change among the members of the society or of the committee shall be filed in Form No. VII within (three months) from the date of such change. The notice of change among the members of the committee shall be accompanied by the resolution of the meeting if any, effecting such change.

The learned counsel for the petitioner in support of his contention that the respondent has to accept Form No. VII in terms of the Rule 17 of Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975, seeks in aid of the decision of this Court in C.M.S. Evangelical Suvi David Memorial Higher Secondary School Committee Karisal Vs. The District Registrar and Others, , whereby and whereunder in paragraph-20, it is observed and held as under:

"20. As the power of the Registrar to hold enquiry is only to arrive at a prima facie conclusion as to the correctness of the particulars given in Form VII, the provision of Sub-sec.(9) of Sec. 36 should also be understood to mean that he could issue such directions to the registered society or any of the member of the society only with reference to the details furnished in Form VII. It must also be borne in mind that the enquiry under Sec. 36 is not only limited to the regular affairs of the society and such affairs not only include the constitution of a registered society but also to the working and financial condition, and hence the power of the Registrar to issue such direction under Sub-Sec.(9) of Sec. 36 of the Act, in regard to the constitution of the registered society must be understood in the context of Form VII. Sec. 14 obligates the registered society to maintain a register containing the names, addresses and occupations of its members. Sec. 15 further mandates such registered society shall file with the Registrar a copy of the register maintained by it under Sec. 14 and from time to time file with the Registrar notice of any change among the members of the committee. In the absence of failure to comply with Sec. 14, the Registrar could only resort to the power under Sec. 37 to cancel the registration. Hence, the power under Sub-sec.(9) of Sec. 36 cannot be stretched to a power on the Registrar to direct the registered society to hold fresh election. A direction to hold fresh election would amount to indirectly setting aside the earlier election and such power is not conferred on the Registrar under any of the provisions of the Act. So long as the election is not declared invalid in the manner known to law, no direction for fresh election could be ordered. Validity of the election could very well be decided only by the competent Civil Court as the parties are entitled to let in their evidence to sustain their respective claims. In the event the Registrar satisfies himself as to the particulars furnished in Form VII as correct, he should enter the names in the register maintained for that purpose. In the event if he does not satisfy as to the particulars and thereby does not accept Form VII, he has to issue a direction relegating the parties to approach the civil Court for appropriate orders and thereafter shall act as per the orders of the civil Court. Accordingly, the issue is answered. Post the Writ Appeals for disposal accordingly."

Following the aforesaid decision, this Court is of the considered view that the impugned order dated 29.09.2014 passed by the respondent is not a valid one in the eye of law. As such, this Court is perforced to set aside the impugned order in Na.Ka.No. 2556/A2/2014 dated 29.09.2014 and allows the writ petition.

In the result, the writ petition is allowed and the impugned order in Na.Ka.No. 2556/A2/2014 dated 29.09.2014 passed by the respondent is set aside by this Court for the reasons assigned in this writ petition.

In view of the fact that this Court has allowed the present writ petition filed by the petitioner as a logical corollary, the respondent is directed to take on file the Form No. VII dated 23.06.2014 filed by the petitioner society to prevent an aberration of justice and in furtherance of substantial cause of justice. No costs. Consequently, the connected Miscellaneous Petitions are closed.