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Judgment
Dilip Gupta, J.—Committee of Management, Chaharwati Inter College Akola, Agra and Ashok Kumar claiming himself to be its Manager, have filed this petition for setting aside the decision taken by the Regional Level Committee on 19th June, 2010 by which the elections of the Petitioner-Committee of Management said to have been held on 8th November, 2009, in which Petitioner No. 2 Ashok Kumar was elected as the Manager, have not been approved and the elections held on 25th October, 2009 with Udai Veer Singh Chahar as the Manager have been approved.
It is stated that earlier, the Petitioner had filed Writ Petition No. 12109 of 2010 for setting aside the order dated 7th November, 2009 by which the District Inspector of Schools, Agra had approved the elections of the Committee of Management of the Institution held on 25th October, 2009 with Udai Veer Singh Chahar as the Manager. The petition was disposed of by the judgment and order dated 11th March, 2010 with the following observations:
Sri R.K. Ojha, learned Counsel for the Petitioners submitted that in fact no elections were held on 25th October, 2009 and the only elections that were held were on 8th November, 2009 in which Petitioner No. 2 Ashok Kumar was elected as the Manager. In respect of the elections held on 25th October, 2009 in which Udai Veer Singh Chahar claims to have been elected as the Manager, he submits that the only paper work has been done and no elections were actually held. He further submits that in terms of Clause 9(6) of the Scheme of Administration of the Institution, Udai Veer Singh Chahar could not have been elected as the Manager again since he had been elected as the Manager of the Committee of Management of the Institution in 2000 and 2005. Sri H.N. Singh, learned Counsel appearing for Respondent No. 4 Udai Veer Singh Chahar, has, however, submitted that the election of Udai Veer Singh Chahar, as Manager is not hit by Clause 9(6) of the Scheme of Administration of the Institution since in respect of the elections held in 2000, he was co-opted in 2003 after the death of the elected Manager. He has further submitted that the elections were held on 25th October, 2009 in accordance with the Scheme of Administration of the Institution. It, therefore, appears that there is a serious dispute about the elections held on 25th October, 2009 and 8th November, 2009. This is a matter which can appropriately be examined by the Regional Level Committee. Under Clause 9(6) of the Scheme of Administration of the Institution, a person can be an office bearer of the Committee of Management in two consecutive elections but he can again be appointed as an office bearer after a gap. In the present case, Udai Veer Singh Chahar was the Manager of the Committee of Management of the Institution in the Committee elected in 2000 and 2005. He, therefore, could not have been elected as Manager in the election held in 2009. The contention of Sri H.N. Singh, learned Counsel for Udai Veer Singh Chahar, is that he was not elected in the election held in 2000 but was subsequently co-opted in 2003 as the elected Manager had died. The matter regarding the validity of either of the two elections is to be examined by the Regional Level Committee. This matter can also, therefore, be examined by the Regional Level Committee. Prima facie, in view of the provisions of Clause 9(6) of the Scheme of Administration of the Institution, it is desirable that the operation of the salary account of staff of the Institution may not be operated by Udai Veer Singh Chahar and should be operated singly till the matter is decided by the Regional Level Committee. It is made clear that this is only a tentative opinion expressed by the Court and the Regional Level Committee shall be free to examine the same after hearing the parties. The petition is disposed of with the aforesaid observations.
Pursuant to the aforesaid judgment and order, the Petitioners filed an application before the Regional Level Committee on 15th April, 2010 specifically stating that the election held on 25th October, 2009 in which Udai Veer Singh Chahar claims to have elected as Manager was never held and it was a election in which forged and fictitious paper work was only done. It was also stated that it was not held in accordance with the Scheme of Administration of the Institution inasmuch as neither any electoral college was determined nor any Election Officer was appointed and nor any election agenda was published in the newspaper. It was also stated that Udai Veer Singh Chahar could not have been elected in view of the restriction imposed in Clause 9(6) of the Scheme of Administration of the Institution. The Petitioners also stated that their elections had been validly held in accordance with the Scheme of Administration of the Institution.
Respondent No. 4, Udai Veer Singh Chahar also filed a reply to the objections filed by the Petitioners but only a general averment was made that the elections had been validly held on 25th October, 2009 but no records or documents were filed to substantiate it.
The Regional Level Committee in its decision taken on 19th June, 2009 has observed as follows:
(1). The elections of the Petitioner-Committee of Management have not been validly held inasmuch as 3/4th members of the General Body have not obtained any permission in writing from the District Inspector of Schools before proceeding to hold the meeting for holding the elections of the Committee of Management of the Institution. The election held on 8th November, 2009, therefore, cannot be approved.
(2) The contention raised by Ashok Kumar that Udai Veer Singh Chahar could not have been elected as the Manager in terms of Clause 9(6) of the Scheme of Administration of the Institution cannot be accepted since the Scheme of Administration of the Institution was amended in 2004 after which only the restriction imposed under the said clause could have applied.
(3) The Committee of Management of which Udai Veer Singh Chahar was elected as the Manager is in effective control of the Institution, since they were elected in 2000 and 2004 which factor alone was required to be seen u/s 16A(7) of the U.P. Intermediate Education Act, 1921 (hereinafter referred to as the ''Act'') and the elections held on 25th October, 2009 have been held in accordance with the provisions of the Scheme of Administration of the Institution.
It is for this reason that the Regional Level Committee has granted approval to the elections held on 15th October, 2009 for constituting the Committee of Management of the Institution with Udai Veer Singh Chahar as the Manager.
Learned Standing Counsel appears for Respondent Nos. 1, 2 and 3. Sri Rahul Sripat, has put in appearance on behalf of Respondent No. 4. They state that it is not necessary to file any counter affidavit and the petition may be disposed of at this stage.
Sri R.K. Ojha, learned Counsel appearing for the Petitioners submitted that the decision taken by the Regional Level Committee on 19th June, 2010 deserves to be set aside since no reasons have been assigned by the Regional Level Committee for holding that the elections of the Committee of Management of the Institution were held on 25th October, 2009 in accordance with the Scheme of Administration of the Institution. It is his submission that the Regional Level Committee has recorded a finding about the effective control of the Committee over the Institution though it was also required to prima facie determine by giving reasons whether the Committee of Management was validly elected in accordance with the Scheme of Administration of the Institution. It is also his submission that even the finding recorded on effective control is perverse since reference has been made only to the earlier elections held in 2000 and 2004 and there is no finding about the effective control of the Committee after the elections were held on 25th October, 2009. It is also his submission that the Regional Level Committee committed an infirmity in not accepting the submission of the Petitioners that Udai Veer Singh Chahar could not have been elected as the Manager in terms of Clause 9(6) of the Scheme of Administration of the Institution which provides that a person can be an office bearer of the Committee of Management only for two consecutive elections and he can again be appointed as an office bearer after a gap only. It is also his submission that 3/4th members had submitted letter before the District Inspector of Schools for calling a meeting for holding election of the Committee of Management of the Institution but since no order was passed by the District Inspector of Schools, such members proceeded to hold the meeting in accordance with the Scheme of Administration of the Institution.
Sri Rahul Sripat, learned Counsel appearing for the Respondents, however, submitted that the elections of the Committee of Management of the Institution were held on 25th October, 2009 in accordance with the Scheme of Administration of the Institution and there is no infirmity in the decision taken by the Regional Level Committee for granting approval to the said elections. It is his submission that the bar of Clause 9(6) of the Scheme of Administration of the Institution will not apply in the present case since such a clause of the Scheme of Administration of the Institution was introduced for the first time in the year 2004 after which only one election of the Committee has been held. It is also his submission that the election of the Committee of Management of the Institution which the Petitioner claims to have held on 8th November, 2009, have not been approved by the Regional Level Committee since the District Inspector of Schools had not granted permission to the 3/4th members of the General Body for holding the elections as provided for in the Scheme of Administration of the Institution.
I have carefully considered the submissions advanced by learned Counsel for the parties.
The submission advanced by Sri R.K. Ojha, learned Counsel appearing for the Petitioners that the decision taken by the Regional Level Committee for approving the election of the Committee of Management of the Institution held on 25th October, 2009 cannot be sustained since no reasons have been given for coming to the conclusion that the elections of the Committee of Management of the Institution were held on 25th October, 2009 in accordance with the Scheme of Administration of the Institution deserves to be accepted. A perusal of the decision taken by the Regional Level Committee shows that only a bald statement has been made to this affect without giving any reason for arriving at this conclusion. It was a specific case taken by the Petitioners before the Regional Level Committee that the election had not been held in accordance with the Scheme of Administration of the Institution since neither the electoral college had been determined, nor any Agenda was published in the newspaper and nor any notice was given to the members. A Full Bench of this Court in Committee of Management, Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru Inter College, Gorakhpur Region and Another Vs. Deputy Director of Education and Others, consisting of five Hon''ble Judges has clearly held that while deciding the matter u/s 16A(7), the Authorities are also required to consider and record a finding as to which of the rival claimant prima facie has been validly elected in accordance with the Scheme of Administration of the Institution. As the decision taken by the Regional Level Committee for granting approval to the elections of the Committee of Management of the Institution held on 25th October, 2009 does not give any reason for coming to this conclusion, it cannot be sustained.
In so far as the election of the Petitioner-Committee of Management said to have been held on 8th November, 2009 is concerned, it needs to be mentioned that the Petitioner had come out with a categorical case that communication had been sent by 3/4th members of the General Body to the District Inspector of Schools for granting permission for holding the meeting of the Committee of Management of the Institution for the purposes of holding the election but since the District Inspector of Schools did not give the permission, such members proceeded to hold the meeting and the elections were thereafter held in accordance with the Scheme of Administration of the Institution. This aspect can also be considered by the Regional Level Committee when it proceeds to decide the matter again.
The submission of learned Counsel for the Petitioners about Clause 9(6) of the Scheme of Administration of the Institution that a person can be an office bearer of the Committee of Management of the Institution only in two consecutive elections, and he can be elected again as an office bearer after a gap can also be considered by the Regional Level Committee.
Thus, for all the reasons stated above, the decision taken by the Regional Level Committee on 19th June, 2010 is set aside. The Regional Level Committee shall proceed to decide the matter afresh in the light of the observations made above, expeditiously, preferably within a period of two months from the date a certified copy of this order is filed by either of the parties before the Regional Level Committee. In view of the judgment and order dated 11th March, 2010 rendered by this Court in Writ Petition No. 12109 of 2010, it is ordered that the salary account of the Institution shall be operated singly till the matter is decided by the Regional Level Committee.
The petition is allowed to the extent indicated above.