A.N. Varma, J. - (1.) In the year 1945 a mission was founded by Sri Ram Chandraji of Shahjahanpur called Sri Ram Chandra Mission. It was named after Mahatma Ram Chandraji Maharaj of Fatehgarh who is stated to have founded a spirtual system called the Raj Yoga' intended to help people in attaining sprituality through yogic methods suiting the needs of the time and capacity of an ordinary house-holder. Sri Ram Chandraji of Shahjahanpur was accepted as successor and representative of Mahatma Ram Chandraji of Fatehgarh. The Mission founded by Sri Ram Chandraji of Shajahanpur was to fulfil the sacred task of propagation of a spritual system called 'Sahaj Marg' designed to help a house-holder in attaining spirtual benefits through an easy way. The Mission was duly registered under the Societies Registration Act with its headquarter at Shahjahanpur. For the smooth running of the Mission the founder got its constitution and the bye-laws drafted and registered. In course of time the Mission acquired considerable property and its following grew far and wide, both within the country and abroad.
(2.) The founder Sri Ram Chandraji Maharaj of Shahjahanpur died on April 19, 1983. The defendant-appellant no. 1 Sri Parthasarthi Rajagopalachari claims to have been duly appointed under a deed dated March 23, 1974 by the founder of the Mission as his representative and successor to act as the head and president of the Mission. He further claims that the working committee of the Mission at its meeting held at Hyderabad on December 27, 1983 recognized his appointment as the president of the Mission consistently with the wishes of the founder as expressed in his declaration embodied in the aforesaid deed, dated March 23, 1983.
(3.) On the basis of his appointment both by the founder as the president of the Society and the resolution of the working committee the defendant-appellant no. 1 was performing the functions and duties cast upon the president of the Mission until the present suit was instituted on December 26, 1983 at Shahjahanpur. The relief claimed in the suit was that the defendant-appellant no. 1 be restrained from acting as the president of the Mission or from declaring himself as such president or otherwise interfering in the affairs of the Mission. The suit was filed by three individuals. The plaintiff-respondents nos. 1 and 2 claimed to be working as preceptors in the Mission while the third plaintiff respondent professes to be an Abhayasi or a follower of the Mission. It was filed against three persons, namely, Sri Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari, Sri Kashi Ram Agarwal, the Joint Secy. of the Mission and Sri S. A. Sarnad, the Secretary of the Mission who were arrayed respectively as defendants nos. 1 to 3.;