IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CIVIL APPEAL NO.1249/2025

RAMESH BADLANI

$APPELLANT(S)$

VERSUS

REGISTRAR FIRMS AND SOCIETIES & ORS.

RESPONDENT(S)

WITH

C.A. No.1250/2025

WITH

C.A. No.1251/2025

WITH

C.A. No.1252/2025

WITH

C.A. No.1253/2025

ORDER

The submissions were heard on the earlier date. The issue involved is very simple. A Division Bench of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh at Indore by judgment and order dated 23^rd April, 2024 in Writ Petition No.27769 of 2023 dealt with the issue of conduct of election of the governing body of a Society registered under the Madhya Pradesh Societies Registration Act, 1973 which is known as "Shri Astha Foundation for Education". Following is the operative part of the order passed by the High Court.

"14. Resultantly, this petition stands finally disposed off with the following directions:

"1.The Registrar, Firms and Societies is directed to perform the statutory duty and act upon the representation made by the petitioners and conduct free and fair election of the society as per the list of members and governing body of the last election dated 30.01.2016 in accordance with law, forthwith.

2. It has also been brought to the notice of this Court that the documents and funds of the society are mismanaged and, therefore, in the considered opinion of this Court, till the new elected body is in place/assumes charge, both the parties are restrained from operating bank accounts or from taking any financial or other decisions related to the society in question.

3.The Registrar, Finns and Societies after the election is conducted shall handover the charge, papers as well as properties/institutions to the newly elected governing body in accordance with law forthwith.

4. The Registry is directed to communicate this order to the Registrar, Firms and Societies, Indore immediately."

(Underline supplied)

This judgment and order was challenged by some of the aggrieved parties by preferring Civil Appeal No.6448 of 2024. By a judgment and order dated 15th May, 2024 in Civil Appeal No.6448 of 2024, this Court passed the following order:

"Applications seeking permission to file the Special Leave Petitions are allowed.

Leave granted.

Perused the impugned judgment and order and the operative directions in paragraph 14 of the impugned judgment and order. We find that the High Court is right in holding that free and fair elections of the Society must be held. However, the direction of the High Court is to conduct the elections on the basis of the list of members/voters as existed on 30th January, 2016. Obviously, elections which will be held in 2024 cannot be on the basis of the list of members/voters as prevailing on 30th January, 2016. That part of the impugned judgment and order of the High Court cannot be confirmed.

As far as clause (2) of paragraph 14 of the impugned judgment and order is concerned, the direction appears to be that the bank accounts of Astha Foundation For Education Society shall not be operated. We find no reason to disturb the said direction. However, if money is required for running of any of the educational institutions run by the said Society, we permit the parties to apply to the High Court for seeking limited modification.

Accordingly, we dispose of the Appeals by passing the following order:

i. The directions issued in terms of paragraph 14 of the impugned judgment and order are hereby confirmed subject to modification that elections shall not be held on the basis of the list of members/voters as on 30th January, 2016. The direction to hold election on the basis of the list of members/voters as on 30th January, 2016 is set aside. The Writ Petition is remanded to the High Court only for limited purpose of deciding the issue of list of voters on the basis of which election should be held;

ii. Considering the fact that the elections as directed must be held at the earliest, we request the High Court to hear the parties and pass appropriate order regarding preparation of a fresh list of members/voters eligible to vote in the elections to be conducted in terms of clause (1) of paragraph 14 of the impugned judgment and order. Needless to add that the High 2 Court will consider applicable laws/rules/bye-laws while determining the issue;

iii. As regards clause (2) of paragraph 14 of the impugned judgment and order, in the event it is necessary to release the amounts in the bank accounts of Astha Foundation For Education Society for the purposes of running the colleges/educational institutions, the parties are free to apply to the High Court by making appropriate applications for limited modification of the said direction. The High Court will consider the same on its own merits;

iv. Subject to modification made above and limited order of remand, the impugned judgment and order is confirmed.

v. The Appeals are partly allowed on the above terms. We make it clear that though some of the appellants are not parties before the High Court, this order shall not be construed to mean that they are entitled to participate in the proceedings before the High Court. It is for the them to make appropriate applications in that behalf before the High Court."

(Underlines supplied)

The judgment and order of this Court dated 15th May, 2024 specifically directed that the election shall not be held on the basis of the list of the members/voters as on 30th January, 2016. Therefore, the direction of the High Court to hold elections on the basis of the list of members/voters as on 30th January, 2016 was set aside. The writ petition was remanded to the High Court by this Court only for a limited purpose of deciding the issue of list of voters on the basis of which election should be held. After remand, the High Court disposed of the restored writ petition by the impugned judgment and order.

Paragraph 74 of the impugned judgment reads thus:

"74. Before we arrive at our final decision, we must highlight that we are mindful of the specific direction given by the Hon'ble Apex Court that election shall not be held on the basis of list of members/voters as on 30.01.2016. However, considering the manner in which the parties pursued litigation in the first round, it is to be noted that such direction was given based on incomplete material placed on record before the Hon'ble Apex Court. While we acknowledge this instruction with all respect and humility at our command, though at the same time, we also wish to inform the Hon'ble Apex Court that upon re-examination of the matter, we encountered a substantial array of new pleadings leading this Court in a position of divergence from that specific direction for reasons mentioned above. On appreciation of pleadings brought on record on remand and examining the material placed on record from 2016 till date, i.e., 2024, the actions undertaken by the parties appear to fall short of the expectations outlined in the order of remand. After carefully reviewing the records, along with the Registrar's report, we are of the firm opinion that the annual list dated January 30, 2016 is the only valid and legally constituted list of the Society's governing body in accordance with the 2007 byelaws till date. All (lie subsequent annual lists as brought on record lack conformity with the 2007 bye-laws and do not provide sufficient evidence to establish their legitimacy."

(Underline supplied)

To say the least, what is observed in paragraph 74 is shocking. The High Court has virtually set at naught the order of this Court. Normally, we restrain ourselves from criticizing the orders of the High Courts and other Courts in a strong language. In this case, the mandate of this Court was that election shall not be held on the basis of list of members/voters as on 30th January, 2016. As can be seen from the operative part of the impugned judgment and what is held in paragraph 74, the High Court directed the Registrar, Firms and Societies, Madhya Pradesh to conduct free and fair election of the society as per the list of members/voters dated 30th January, 2016. Therefore, the High Court has passed an order which is completely contrary to order of this Court. When this Court in so many words held that election shall not be held on the basis of list of members/voters as on 30th January, 2016, the High Court has specifically directed that election shall be held on the basis of list of members/voters dated 30th January, 2016. We do not wish to offer any further comments about

what is held in paragraph 74. With some justification, it can be said that the order of the High Court is an act of judicial impropriety.

Therefore, we have no option but to set aside the impugned judgment and order dated 4th October, 2024 passed in Writ Petition No.27769 of 2023. Accordingly, we set aside the impugned judgment and order and restore the Writ Petition No.27769 of 2023 to the file of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh Bench at Indore.

The impugned order was passed on 4th October, 2024. The election process on the basis of the impugned judgment and order was immediately conducted on 8th October, 2024. An election was purportedly held on the basis of the impugned judgment and order of the High Court which is patently illegal. Therefore, even the election held consequent to the impugned judgment and order will have to be set aside and is hereby set aside.

The Society is running a large number of educational institutions. From the record, it appears that there are two or three groups of individuals who are interested in managing the affairs of the society. In their fight, the students who are taking the education in large number of educational institutions should not be made to suffer. Therefore, only appropriate solution is to appoint ad hoc

Committee headed by a retired Judge of the High Court to manage the affairs of the society till proper elections are conducted.

Therefore, we propose to appoint a Committee headed by Hon'ble Shri Shantanu Sharadchandra Kemkar, a former Judge of the Madhya Pradesh and Bombay High Court. The Committee shall include apart from Hon'ble Shri Shantanu Sharadchandra Kemkar (a) a retired judge of the High Court or a retired Principal District Judge; (b) a Chartered Accountant of repute; (c) an experienced person in the field of education who has either worked as a Vice Chancellor of a University or headed a larger educational institution; and (d) a retired civil servant or retired officer of the rank of Deputy Collector.

Hence, we pass following order:

(a) The impugned judgment and order dated 4th October, 2024 is hereby set aside and Writ Petition No.27769 of 2023 is restored to the file of the High Court.

(b)We request the Hon'ble the Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court to assign the writ petition to a Bench of which the learned Judges who passed the impugned judgment and order are not parties. The High Court shall dispose of the writ petition in terms of our earlier judgment and order dated 15th May, 2024 in C.A. No.6448 of

2024 in accordance with law. We request the High Court to give necessary priority to the disposal of the writ petition.

(c) A copy of this order shall be forwarded by the Registry to Registrar (Judicial) of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh Bench at Indore who shall seek necessary directions from the Hon'ble Chief Justice of High Court of Madhya Pradesh on the administrative side and shall ensure that the restored writ petition is placed before the assigned Bench on 28th February, 2025 in the morning. The parties who are represented today shall be under an obligation to appear before the High Court and no further notice shall be served upon the parties who are represented today by the High Court.

(d) We appoint ad hoc Committee headed by Hon'ble Shri Shantanu Sharadchandra Kemkar, a former Judge of Madhya Pradesh and Bombay High Court to manage the affairs of the Society. We request the learned retired judge to suggest names of (a) a retired Judge of the High Court or a retired Principal District Judge (b) an eminent Chartered Accountant (c) an experienced person in the filed of education who has been either a Vice Chancellor of a University or head of a reputed educational institution; (d) a retired Civil Servant or a retired Officer of the

cadre of Deputy Collector, who can be made the members of the Ad hoc committee.

(e) We request Hon'ble Shri Shantanu Sharadchandra Kemkar to submit a report to this Court within two weeks from today so that an appropriate order can be passed for fully constituting the ad hoc Committee and for issuing other directions such as remuneration payable to the members of the Committee.

(f) After Committee is fully constituted, appropriate mechanism can be laid down by this Court including a procedure to be followed for monetary transactions. However, for the time being, we direct that in case any immediate expenditure is required to be incurred for running of the educational institutions, Hon'ble Shri Shantanu Sharadchandra Kemkar may authorize incurring of the said expenditure.

The appeals are allowed on above terms.

A copy of this order shall be immediately forwarded by the Registry to Registrar (Judicial) of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh Bench at Indore who shall forward a copy to Hon'ble Shri Shantanu Sharadchandra Kemkar a retired Judge of the Madhya Pradesh and Bombay High Court. We request the Hon'ble Judge to submit a report in a sealed cover to the Registrar (Judicial) of this Court by 21st February, 2025

which can be considered on 24th February, 2025 when these appeals shall be listed for directions. He may forward the report through the Registrar (Judicial) of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

Pending application(s), if any, shall stand disposed of.

..........................J. (ABHAY S.OKA)

..........................J. (UJJAL BHUYAN)

NEW DELHI; FEBRUARY 4, 2025

ITEM NO.54 COURT NO.4 SECTION IV-C

S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

Civil Appeal No(s). 1249/2025

RAMESH BADLANI Appellant(s)

VERSUS

REGISTRAR FIRMS AND SOCIETIES & ORS. Respondent(s)

[TO BE TAKEN UP AT 2.00 P.M.] (IA No. 237161/2024 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT, IA No. 237163/2024 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.)

WITH

C.A. No. 1250/2025 (IV-C) (IA No. 237012/2024 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T., IA No. 238355/2024 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T., IA No. 241304/2024 – INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT, IA No. 238352/2024 - PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/FACTS/ANNEXURES, IA No. 237015/2024 - PERMISSION TO FILE LENGTHY LIST OF DATES, IA No. 238353/2024 - PERMISSION TO PLACE ON RECORD SUBSEQUENT FACTS)

C.A. No. 1251/2025 (IV-C) (IA No. 237105/2024 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T., IA No. 244030/2024 – INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT)

C.A. No. 1252/2025 (IV-C) (IA No. 239845/2024 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T., IA No. 239846/2024 - PERMISSION TO FILE LENGTHY LIST OF DATES, IA No. 239844/2024 - PERMISSION TO FILE PETITION (SLP/TP/WP/..)

C.A. No. 1253/2025 (IV-C) (IA No. 242813/2024 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT, IA No. 242816/2024 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T., IA No. 242814/2024 - PERMISSION TO FILE PETITION (SLP/TP/WP/..), IA No. 242815/2024 - PERMISSION TO PLACE ON RECORD SUBSEQUENT FACTS)

Date : 04-02-2025 These matters were called on for hearing today.

CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ABHAY S. OKA HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE UJJAL BHUYAN For Appellant(s) : Mr. Mukul Rohatgi, Sr. Adv. (Item 54.1) Mr. Siddharth R. Gupta, Adv. Mr. Mrigank Prabhakar, AOR Mr. Shantanu Sharma, Adv. Mr. Aman Agarwal, Adv. Mr. Piyush Parashar, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Sahu, Adv. Mr. Siddharth R. Gupta, Adv. (Item 54.2) Mr. Mrigank Prabhakar, AOR Mr. Shantanu Sharma, Adv. Mr. Aman Agarwal, Adv. Mr. Piyush Parashar, Adv. Mr. Siddharth Sahu, Adv. Ms. Pragati Neekhra, AOR Mr. Ajay Assudani, Adv. Mr. Aditya Bhanu Neekhra, Adv. Mr. Atul Dong, Adv. Mr. Aniket Patel, Adv. Mr. Mukul Rohatgi, Sr. Adv. Mr. Ardhendumauli Kumar Prasad, Sr. Adv. Mrs. Taruna Ardhendu Prasad, Adv. Mrs. Kalyani Bhide Gharote, Adv. Mr. Gharote Anurag A, AOR Mr. Hitesh Sharma, Adv. Mr. Umang Bansal, Adv. Mr. Puneet Jain, Sr. Adv. Mr. VVS Murthy, Sr. Adv. Ms. Christi Jain, AOR Ms. Akriti Sharma, Adv. Mr. Om Sudhir, Adv. Mr. Mann Arora, Adv. Mr. Umang Mehta, Adv. Mr. Harsh Jain, Adv.

• Mr. Shantanu Sharma, Adv.
• Mr. Aman Agarwal, Adv.
• Mr. Mrigank Prabhakar, AOR
• Ms. Sakshi Banga, Adv.

For Respondent(s) :Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Sr. Adv.

• Mr. S. Guru Krishna Kumar, Sr. Adv.
• Mr. Mohammad Ibrahim, Adv.
• Mr. Pranav Diesh, Adv.
• Mr. Somanadri Goud Katam, AOR
• Mr. Aditya Shekhar, Adv.
• Mr. Sujeet Desmukh, Adv.
• Mr. Sirajuddin, Adv.
• Mr. Amit Bhandari, Adv.
• Mr. Rahul Maheshwari, Adv.
• Mr. Shivashish Joshi, Adv.
• Mr. Yash Gupta, Adv.
• Mr. Harmeet Singh Ruprah, D.A.G.
• Mr. Abhimanyu Singh (GA), Adv.
• Mr. Abhimanyu Singh, Adv.
• Mr. Pashupathi Nath Razdan, AOR
• Mr. Manoj Kumar, Adv.
• Mr. Prateek Bhatia, AOR
• Mr. Dhawal Mohan, Adv.
• Mr. Paranjay Tripathi, Adv.
• Mr. Rajesh Raj, Adv.
• Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Sr. Adv.
• Mr. S Gurukrishna Kumar, Sr. Adv.
• Mr. Mahfooz Ahsan Nazki, AOR
• Mr. Mohammad Ibrahim, Adv.
• Mr. Ashwin K, Adv.
• Mr. K V Sriwas Naryanan, Adv.
• Mr. Vishesh Goel, Adv.
• Mr. Meeran Maqbool, Adv.
• Mr. Vivek Rajan D.B, Adv.
• Ms. Lubna Naaz, AOR
• Mr. Mayank Kshirsagar, AOR
• Mr. Tarun Gupta, AOR

UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following O R D E R

The appeals are allowed in terms of the signed order.

Pending applications including application for impleadment shall stand disposed of.

List on 24th February, 2025 for directions.

(KAVITA PAHUJA) (AVGV RAMU) AR-cum-PS COURT MASTER (NSH) [Signed order is placed on the file]