LAHUDAS SAMBHAJI KARAD Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN both these writ petitions, the judgment of the Joint Charity Commissioner, passed in Application No. 3/1992, has been impugned on the ground that under section 41-A of the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950, the Joint Charity Commissioner has no powers to interfere with the process of election to the Governing Council of the public trust, set in motion on the grounds stated in his order dated 14-5-1992 in Appln. No. 3/1992 and hence both these writ petitions are disposed of by the common judgment. The question posed is what are the parameters of section 41-A of the said Act. Section 41-A reads as under :

(2.) IN the above judgment, intervening in the elections, the learned Joint Charity Commissioner under sections 41-A and 41-B of the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950 directed the Governing Council of Jawahar Education Society, Parli Vaijinath to appoint freshly Election Officers under bye-law No. 10 of the society and further directed the said Governing Council to depend on the list consisting of 483 members for the purpose of the election to the Governing Council. This has been challenged in both the writ petitions on the ground that under the above provisions of the Bombay Public Trusts Act, the Joint Charity Commissioner has no power whatsoever to interfere in the affairs relating to the membership and election of the Governing Council to the society and further that the President and the Election Officers of the said society are competent to hold election on the basis of the list containing 834 members mentioned in the list published on 16-4-1992.

(3.) AS against this, the respondents in both the writ petitions have commonly urged that when the list of 483 members was published for the purpose of elections to the Governing Council, the final list containing enlarged members of 834 has been set up by the President and the office bearers of the society only with a view to ensure their success in election to the Governing Council. That list contained bogus members and that the story of enrolment of fresh members raising the membership from 483 to 834 is a fabricated measure not supported by any substantial evidence and hence the directions given by the Joint Charity Commissioner in the above proceedings should be confirmed. By way of analogy, it is also contended that by decision in Writ Petition No. 3878/1991 decided on 17-2-1992, the power of the joint Charity Commissioner to direct the management to hold elections of the said society has virtually closed this issue and this question can not be gone into afresh under the doctrine of res judiciata.