James - (1.) THESE applications for setting aside an arbitration award have arisen in circumstances which require to be described in some detail.
(2.) THE Kayastha Pathshala, Prayag (Allahabad), is an old charitable and educational institution registered under Act 21 of 1860, and its affairs are governed by its registered Rules entitled "THE Rules of the Governing Council of Trustees" (herinafter referred to as the Rules). All properties held by and in the name of the Kayastha Pathshala" vest in the Governing Council, According to the Rules, ten classes of persons belonging to the, Kayastha Community are eligible for membership of the Council. THE most important of these for described in Clause (1) of Rule 7 of the Rules and may for the sake of convenience be termed "'donor -- trustees, and conditions have been laid down which a person must fulfil before he can be enrolled as a donor -- trustee. THE Governing Council is headed by a President who is invested with wide powers in managing the affairs of the Kayastha Pathshala and its properties. He must be a donor-trustee ordinarily residing at Allahabad and must be a person of ability, good reputation and substance. He is elected from among the members of the Governing Council and holds office for a term of five years beginning from the 1st of January. He carries on the administration with the assistance of an Executive Council, consisting of a Vice-President, a Secretary and at least seven, members drawn from the Governing Council, all of whom he appoints. THE President around whom the present litigation revolves was due to be elected at the end of Dec. 1944 and was to commence his duties on 1-1-1945. Interested parties with the object of ensuring the success of theirs respective candidates, were making efforts to enrol a large number of new donor-trustees. THEre were several candidates in the presidential field and their nomination papers were duly filed. One of them was Rai Saheb, Dr. Piare Lal Srivastava. After scrutiny the Returning Officer rejected his nomination paper, whereupon his supporters adopted one Mr. Piare Mohan as their candidate. Ultimately the election was fought out between Mr. Piare Mohan and Dr. Narayan Prasad Asthana. THE actual election was held on 25-12-1944 and Mr. Piare Mohan was declared the successful candidate, and he entered upon his new duties as President on 1-1-1945. Shortly afterwards certain gentlemen prominent in the affairs of the Kayastha Pathshala fell out amongst themselves, and that was the starting point of litigation. Curiously enough, although Mr. Piare Mohan had been the candidate of Dr. Piare Lal Srivastava's party, the dispute resolved itself into efforts to oust Mr. Piare Mohan from the office of President and replace him by Dr. Piare Lal Srivastava. Now, under Rule 7 (1) of the Rules, a member of the Kayastha community can become a donor-trustee by paying Rs. 10f)/- o| upwards in cash or through property yielding a given minimum income, while Rules 10 and 11 prescribe the procedure for admitting such a person as a member of the Governing Conucil. By virtue of Rule 9 a person is entitled to one vote for. donating the first Rs. 100/- but only to one additional vote for every additional donation of Rs. 2,500/- subject to a maximum of ten votes. It is, therefore, obvious that the interest of every party anxious for the support of the maximum number of voter lies in having on its side as large a number of donor-trustees for Rs. 100/- each as possible rather than in a smaller number of such persons paying much bigger amounts as donation. Prior to the presidential election of December, 1944 certain persons gave to the then President separate letters along with large donations and a list of persons in each case the donation consisting of one hundred times the number of persons named in the list asking for these persons to be enrolled forthwith as donor-trustees so as to entitle them to vote at the ensuing election. In each case the request was granted through resolutions passed by the Executive Council, and the persons concerned were duly enrolled as donor-trustees. All persons thus admitted were able to vote at the election held on 25-12-1944.
(3.) AFTER difference had arisen between prominent members of the Kayastha community subsequent to the election of Mr. Piare Mohan a number of old trustees professing to be interested in the welfare of the' Kayastha Pathshala on 22-6-1943 instituted suit No. 41 of 1945 in the court of the Civil Judge, Allahabad, against 275 persons. In their plaint they alleged that Dr. Piarey Lal Srivastava and his adherents Thakur Shiva Nath Singh and Thakur Vishwanath Singh either directly or through their close relatives had got the defendants 1 to 232 enrolled illegally by personal payment of large cash donations and contrary to the Rules, and further that another adherent, B. Basdeo Narain, had got the defendants 233 to 273 enrolled through the unauthorised gift of a defective hosiery factory. The Governing Council through its then President, Mr. Piarey Mohan, was arrayed as defendant 274, and the President of a Subsidiary trust of the Pathashala as defendant 275, these two defendants being pro-forma only. The reliefs asked for against the first 273 defendants were:- (a) That it be declared that the resolutions of the Executive Council admitting the defendants 1 to 232 as members of the Governing Council were null and void and these defendants were not entitled to any rights as members of the Council; (b) that it be declared that the resolutions of the Executive Council enrolling the defendants 233 to 273 as donor-trustees were null and void and these defendants were not entitled to exercise any rights ay members of the Governing Council; and (c) that these 273 defendants be permanently restrained from exercising any rights as members of the Governing Council. No relief was sought against the Governing Council, the defendant 274, or the subsidiary trust, the defendant 275, nor did either of them file any written statement.;