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Judgment
A.P. Sahi, J.—This petition has been preferred by Jai Singh S/o Late Chhedi Singh claiming himself to be the Manager of the institution which is an Intermediate College recognized under the provisions of the U.P. Intermediate Education Act, 1921. The undisputed Scheme of Administration by which the institution is being managed is Annexure-7 to the writ petition and it provides for the term of the office-bearers and members to be 3 years from the date they are elected till their successors are chosen. There is a provision for filling up an office under clause-9 on account of any casual vacancy.
I have heard Sri B.N. Tiwari, learned Counsel for the Petitioner, Sri N.L. Pandey for Respondent No. 4 and the learned Standing Counsel for Respondent Nos. 1 to 3.
The records have been perused and after the matter was heard, learned Counsel agreed that the matter be finally disposed of at this stage itself.
Sri Tiwari submits that the Authorized Controller was appointed in the institution on account of a dispute on a previous occasion about more than 2 decades ago. The Authorized Controller held the elections on 27.10.1988 in which the Respondent - Sri Chandra Shekhar Singh was elected as President, Sri Chhedi Singh, the Petitioner''s late father, was elected as Manager and Sri C.P. Singh was elected as Deputy Manager. The Authorized Controller is stated to have handed over charge on 4.5.1989. The same office-bearers came to be re-elected on 30.6.1992, 25.6.1995 and 30.6.1998.
It is alleged by the Petitioner that on 24.6.2001, the periodical elections were held in which Sri Chandra Shekhar Singh was elected as President and Sri C.P. Singh was elected as Vice-President. It is alleged that Sri Chhedi Singh, who was functioning as Manager, fell ill and consequently a resolution was passed on 15.9.2002 whereby the Petitioner - Jai Singh, who earlier claimed to have been elected as Deputy Manager, was installed as a Manager of the institution. Pursuant to this resolution, the aforesaid casual vacancy on account of ailment of Chhedi Singh came to be filled up by the Petitioner - Jai Singh and his signatures were also attested by the District Inspector of Schools on 26.9.2002. There is no dispute that Jai Singh continued to function as Manager thereafter till Chhedi Singh died on 13.4.2004.
The dispute appears to have emanated thereafter and the Petitioner claims to have held fresh elections with Chandra Shekhar Singh as President, Sri C.P. Singh as Vice-President and the Petitioner as Manager on 13.6.2004. The Respondent - Sri Chandra Shekhar Singh raised a dispute by filing Writ Petition No. 22686 of 2005 alleging that he was not elected as President and that an Authorized Controller should be appointed to manage the affairs of the institution. This writ petition is stated to have been dismissed as withdrawn with liberty to file a fresh writ petition and the Writ Petition No. 25354 of 2005 was again filed. A third writ petition was filed, being Civil Misc. Writ Petition No. 37058 of 2005, through a different Counsel with a slight change in the relief clause. The aforesaid writ petition came to be disposed of on 22.12.2005. Liberty was given to the Respondent - Sri Chandra Shekhar Singh to file a representation before the District Inspector of Schools and in the event such representation was filed, a direction was further issued that the matter should be referred to the Regional Level Committee headed by the Joint Director of Education to decide the same. The Regional Level Committee vide order dated 23.6.2006 appointed a Prabandh Sanchalak to hold the elections after cancelling the recognition granted to the elections held on 13.6.2004. The present writ petition has been filed praying for quashing of the said order and for a further direction to the District Inspector of Schools not to take over charge from the Committee of Management. This Court entertained the Writ Petition and passed an order on 14.7.2006 which is to the following effect:
Learned Standing Counsel has accepted notices on behalf of Respondents 1 to 3 while Sri Uma Nath Pandey has accepted notice on behalf of Respondent 4. They pray for and are granted three weeks'' time and no more for filing counter-affidavit. The learned Counsel for the Petitioners may file rejoinder-affidavit within two weeks thereafter.
It appears that there is long drawn dispute between the parties. The President of the Committee of Management Sri Chandra Shekhar Singh has filed a large number of petitions claiming that his signatures have been forged by the Petitioner Committee of Management which is not a validly elected Committee of Management.
It is undisputed that Chandra Shekhar Singh was elected as the President in the earlier elections held in 1988, 1992, 1995, 1998 and 2001. On the one hand the Petitioners claim that they have withheld the election dated 13.6.2004 in which Shri Chandra Shekhar Singh was elected as the President which is denied by Sri Chandra Shekhar Singh and on the other hand the Petitioners are claiming his signatures as authentic.
The matter requires scrutiny.
List this petition along with Writ Petition Nos. 22686 of 2005, 25354 of 2005, 37058 of 2005, 6127 of 2006 and 5402 of 2006 and Special Appeal No. 6 of 2006 after exchange of counter and rejoinder affidavits between the parties.
In the mean-time the Prabandh Sanchalak will hold the election within three months but the result thereof shall not be declared till further orders.
Sd/- Rakesh Tiwari, J
Dt. 14.7.2006
Aggrieved, the Appellant preferred Special Appeal No. 876 of 2006, the records whereof have been summoned by me and the aforesaid interim order was modified while dismissing the Appeal by the following order on 10.8.2006.
The appeal from the order of Hon''ble Single Judge dated 14.7.2006 is modified to this extent only that the Prabandh Sanchalak will not hold any election just now but that decision will await the final decision of the writs including the present writ which have been consolidated by his Lordship.
Save for this, the appeal is dismissed.
Sd/- Hon. Ajoy Nath Ray, CJ
Sd/- Hon. Ashok, Bhushan, J
Dt. 10.8.2006
The result was that the Prabandh Sanchalak under the orders of the Regional Level Committee took over charge and the tenure of the elections held on 13.6.2004 also came to an end in June, 2007.
It is the admitted case of the parties that no fresh elections have been held. Learned Counsel for the Petitioner Sri Tiwari submits that it is on account of the pendency of the present writ petition and the orders passed herein above that the elections could not be held and even otherwise the order of the Regional Level Committee, which is under challenge in the present writ petition, cannot be sustained. He contends that it is the right of the Petitioner -committee to hold fresh elections inasmuch as the Scheme of Administration provides that the earlier office-bearers will continue till fresh office-bearers are elected. It is further contended that the Petitioner - Committee had been illegally prevented from continuing and, therefore, in view of the law laid down in the case of Committee of Management, Jangali Baba Intermediate College, Garwar, District Ballia, and Anr. v. Deputy Director of Education, Vth Region, Varanasi, and Ors. (1991) 2 UPLBEC 1183 , the Appellant is entitled to function for the period they have been wrongly prevented from discharging their duties. Sri Tiwari further relied on the judgment of the Apex Court in the following cases to urge that no reasons have been recorded by the Regional Level Committee for rejecting the stand of the Petitioner and, therefore, the order is invalid. Reference is made to the case of The Siemens Engineering and Manufacturing Co. of India Ltd. Vs. The Union of India (UOI) and Another, and S.N. Mukherjee Vs. Union of India, It has further been submitted that the Respondent - Sri Chandra Shekhar Singh has no right to contest the present proceedings inasmuch as his petition has already been disposed of on an earlier occasion without any relief to him and being a single Member, he cannot challenge the existence of the Committee of Management. The submission is that there was no rival claim and in this view of the matter, the Regional Level Committee could not have rejected the stand of the Petitioner. Reliance has been placed on the Division Bench judgment in P.P. Rastogi and Ors. v. Meerut University, Meerut and Anr. (1997) 1 UPLBEC 415.
Sri N.L. Pandey, on the other hand, submits that the Petitioner has no locus to contest the matter and in view of the admitted position that the term has come to an end, the Authorized Controller should be directed to hold elections in view of the observations made by the Full Bench in the case of Committee of Management, Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru Inter College, Bansgaon, District Gorakhpur, and Anr. v. Deputy Director of Education, Gorakhpur Region, Gorakhpur and Ors. (2005) 1 UPLBEC 85 (paragraph 38). Sri Tewari for the Petitioner adds that there being no rival claim, the judgment is not attracted on the facts of this case.
Learned Standing Counsel also submits that fresh elections have to be held and, therefore, there is no cause to interfere with the impugned order.
Having heard learned Counsel for the parties, the order of the Regional Level Committee impugned in the present writ petition records the contentions of either side and then proceeds to hold that since there was no post of Deputy Manager, which is not prescribed in the Scheme of Administration, therefore, the Petitioner, who happens to be the son of the erstwhile Manager was not eligible to hold the post of Manager. It has further been held that the attestation of signatures of the Petitioner after the death of Chhedi Singh does not survive. It has further been held that since Sri Chandra Shekhar Singh himself has denied the signature of the proceeding of 13.6.2004, therefore, the elections dated 13.6.2004 cannot be accepted.
The aforesaid findings overlook the fact that Jai Singh - the Petitioner was admittedly acknowledged as the Manager and his signatures had been attested and he continued to function as such from 2002 onwards. The aforesaid facts were sought to be diluted on the ground that there was no post of Deputy Manager and, therefore, Jai Singh could not be inducted as Manager as he was the son of the erstwhile Manager. This aspect of the matter had been explained by the Petitioner through the relevant resolutions for which no reasons have been recorded by the Regional Level Committee. To the aforesaid extent, the argument of the learned Counsel for the Petitioner appears to be correct.
However, the tenure of the said Committee elected on 13.6.2004 had admittedly expired and the Prabandh Sanchalak has been appointed in the institution. This Court, therefore, cannot in view of any further right to a defunct Committee extend any benefit. The Full Bench judgment, therefore, in such a situation gives a guidance in order to fill in the gap where no such provision for appointment of Prabandh Sanchalak is included in the Scheme of Administration. In the instant case also the peculiar facts of this case, therefore, require that the elections be held by the Prabandh Sanchalak.
Accordingly, the writ petition is disposed of with a direction that the elections of the Committee of Management of the institution shall be held under the supervision of the Prabandh Sanchalak for which the District Inspector of Schools, Sant Kabir Nagar, shall issue necessary directions and get the Committee of Management constituted as expeditiously as possible but not later than 3 months from the date of production of a certified copy of this order before the said authority.