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Judgment
This writ petition has been filed by the petitioner seeking
a direction to respondents 1 and 2 to ensure that respondents
3 to 6 or any other person under them do not cause any
obstruction to the smooth conduct of the Annual General Body
Meeting of its shareholders, scheduled to be held at 1. 0.00 a.m. on 14.07.2017 at the Municipal Town Hall, Aluva,
or obstructing the delegates.
The petitioner was provoked to file this writ petition
mainly on account of Exhibit P1, a report that appeared in a
newspaper on 11.07.2017 that the employees of the Bank are
going to organize a convention in front of the statue of
Mahatma Gandhi erected in front of the Municipal Town Hall,
Aluva, where the Annual General Body Meeting is scheduled to
take place. The convention, apparently, is to register the
protest of the employees of the Bank against the policy
changes in the petitioner Bank. The petitioner refers to Exhibit
P2, a photograph of an apparently similar protest on an earlier
occasion. It is stated that apprehending that the convention is
designed to disrupt the Annual General Body Meeting,
petitioner submitted Exhibit P3 complaint before the first
respondent seeking his intervention for the smooth conduct of
the Annual General Body Meeting as also for ensuring the
ingress and egress of the participants and their safety.
According to the petitioner, unless this court issues appropriate
directions, the police may not act on Exhibit P3 and the result
would be disruption to the Annual General Body Meeting. It is
in these circumstances the writ petition is filed.
We heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and
the learned Government Pleader appearing for respondents 1
and 2.
The whole writ petition is based on Exhibit P1 news
report. That news report only talks about a convention which
is proposed to be organized by the party respondents to
register their protest on the policy changes implemented in the
petitioner Bank. There is nothing in Exhibit P1 to indicate that
the convention is meant or intended to disrupt the Annual
General Body Meeting which is scheduled to be held tomorrow
at 10.00 a.m. at the Town Hall, Aluva. The fact that on an
earlier occasion a protest in the manner as indicated in Exhibit
P2 was held is not a reason for us to assume that any illegality
would be committed tomorrow. In such circumstances, we are
not prepared to accept the case of the petitioner that it has
made out any case for a positive direction as sought for in the
writ petition.
Be that as it may, maintaining law and order is the
statutory duty of respondents 1 and 2. Similarly, it is the
statutory obligation of the petitioner, it being a Company, to
hold Annual General Body Meeting of its shareholders.
Therefore, when such an Annual General Body Meeting is held,
nobody is entitled to cause any disruption or obstruct the free
ingress and egress to the venue of the meeting. Therefore, in
case, if any disruption to Annual General Body Meeting or
obstruction to the free ingress and egress to the venue is
caused, it would be open to the petitioner to bring the same to
the notice of respondents 1 and 2, who thereupon shall take
necessary action as is warranted in law to maintain law and
order.
Writ petition is disposed of accordingly.