- (1.) HEARD Shri P.N. Saxena, learned Senior Counsel assisted by Shri Rakesh Kumar Pandey, for the petitioners and Shri G.K. Singh, learned Senior Counsel assisted by Shri M.A. Ausaf for the contesting respondents and the learned Standing for the respondent nos. 1 and 2.
(2.) THE challenge in the present writ petition is to an order dated 27/2/2015, in terms of which the list of the Committee of Management of the Society has come to be registered by the respondent no.2. A further writ is prayed to be issued by this Court commanding the said respondent to refer the dispute to the Prescribed Authority under Section 25 (1) of the Societies Registration Act, 1860 (hereinafter called the "Act, 1860").
(3.) SHRI P.N. Saxena, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioners has submitted that the Assistant Registrar exercising powers under Section 4 of the Act, 1860 was clearly obliged in law to refer the dispute with respect to rival claims when the same came to be asserted before him. The above primary submission has been urged by Shri P.N. Saxena in the backdrop that as per his contention the private respondents had set up a case of elections having been held on 14/2/2015 and that immediately thereafter the petitioners also had filed their claims of elections on 25/2/2015. Shri P.N. Saxena, learned Senior Counsel asserts that once it came before the Assistant Registrar that two factions were claiming to have conducted elections of the Committee of Management of the Society, he stood denuded of all jurisdiction and authority to register a list and that the only option available to him was to refer the dispute for the consideration and adjudication by the Prescribed Authority. Per contra, Shri G.K. Singh, learned Senior Counsel has submitted that true and correct facts have not been disclosed in this writ petition and that, therefore, this writ petition is liable to be dismissed on this score itself. Elaborating his submissions Shri G.K. Singh has submitted that a decision had been taken by the Assistant Registrar to conduct elections of the Committee of Management of the Society by exercising powers confered by Section 25(2) of the Act, 1860. It is submitted that this decision of the Assistant Registrar invoking the provisions of Section 25 (2) of the Act, 1860 was never challenged by the petitioners. He has further drawn the attention of this Court to the fact that the electoral list had been published after inviting objections. Subsequently, by an order dated 03/1/2015, the Assistant Registrar took a decision to treat the tentative list of 71 members to be the final list and proceeded to hold elections based upon the said list. He further submits that the validity of this list as well as the elections consequently held on 14/2/2015 was challenged by the petitioners themselves by means of Writ Petition No.11176/2015, Committee of Management Madarsa Islamiya and Anr Vs. State of U.P. and Ors, which came to be dismissed by this Court on 24/2/2015, accepting the submissions of the respondents that the only remedy available to the petitioners was to challenge the elections under the provisions of the Act, 1860 or by instituting a suit in a competent court of law.;