Professional Documents
Culture Documents
CORAM
D.Krishnamoorthy ...Petitioner
in W.P.No.12476 of 2019
S.R.Ravi ...Petitioner
in W.P.No.12894 of 2019
.Vs.
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COMMON ORDER
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(Housing), the 2nd Respondent herein, to the effect that an inspection was
under Section 81 of the Act and a senior inspector was appointed as the
inquiry officer. Pending the inquiry, the 2nd Respondent sent a proposal
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sanction and without following the procedure had allotted 0.18 cents of
allegation made in the counter affidavit is that the property was leased for
a period of 11 years and the vacant site was handed over to the said Mr.
than Rs.5 crores has been let out for a monthly rent of Rs.25,000and this
lessee has been permitted to put up permanent structures and the society
Act and an inquiry officer has also been appointed. Since the respondents
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has been done with a political vendetta and that the procedure
contemplated under Section 76-A of the Act has not been strictly
followed. The learned Senior Counsel submitted that the subject property
had been encroached by anti-social elements and a lot of effort was taken
the same was intimated to the concerned authorities and a resolution was
also passed by the society to rent out the premises to both prevent any
learned Senior Counsel submitted that the resolutions that were passed by
Society entered into a lease agreement dt. 24.09.2020 and this agreement
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was also registered as Doc No. 2661 of 2020. The learned Senior Counsel
placed reliance upon Clause 11 of the lease deed and submitted that the
reasonable rent was fixed to earn some income for the Society.
assembly elections, the new government took charge during the first week
under Section 81 of the Act. The learned Senior Counsel submitted that
the Petitioners were very much present in the Society till the end of May
exercise of power on the part of the 1st Respondent. The learned Senior
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need to hold an inquiry under Section 81 of the Act and in the present
case, the 2nd Respondent has hastened through the process of ordering
for an inquiry and therefore, the very inquiry ordered under Section 81 of
behalf of the Respondents submitted that the 2nd Respondent has been
delegated the power to order for an inquiry under Section 81 of the Act
by virtue of G.O. No. 31, dt. 08.01.1990. It was further submitted that
the report of the Joint Registrar (Inspection Cell) pointed out serious
powers under Section 76-A of the Act and suspended the petitioners since
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there was prima facie evidence against both the officer bearers of the
Society that they had committed breach of trust and other serious
submitting that all the procedures have been followed to order for an
Act and that there is absolutely no ground to interfere with the same
to have a closer look into the scope of Section 76-A of the Act. This
exercise must be carried out at the threshold since this provision has been
invoked for the first time in this case and it is, therefore, necessary to
delineate its scope as this would have a major impact when this provision
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extracted hereunder:
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Section 76-A, which was inserted by the Tamil Nadu Act 13 of 2020,
the Official Gazette. This provision has been curiously inserted in Chapter
VIII (Sections 73 to 79) of the Act which deals with “Paid officers and
Society are elected office bearers and are not paid officers or servants of
the society who are appointed under Section 73 of the Act. The placement
of Section 76-A in Chapter VIII is, quite simply, bizarre since the power
unequal’s equally. This is, perhaps, another instance where the legislature
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that the only difference is that in the former, ‘paid officer or servant of
suspend a paid officer or servant flows from the contract of service or the
bearers since neither the State Government nor the Registrar or Sub-
Registrar are the masters or the employers nor are the elected President
missed the wood for the trees by treating dissimilar groups similarly.
Section 76-A sticks out like a sore thumb and ought not to have been
under Section 33-A of the Act. The entire process of election is set out in
Rule 52 of the Rules. A poll is held, and the members cast their votes and
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elect the members of the Board. Consequently the office bearers also get
the Rules which lays down the procedure for such removal. There is also
the Rules. That apart there is also a specific provision under Section 88 of
the Act for the supersession of the Board under certain circumstances and
13.It is clear from the above that the scheme of the Act
envisages that the elected Board and the Office Bearers are dealt with in a
incorporated into Chapter VIII of the Act which deals with paid servants
observe that Section 76-A had the traits of a cut and paste legislation.
However, as the vires of this provision has not been called into question,
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that the exercise of power under the said provision is a two-step process.
The first step contemplates the placing of information before the Registrar
indicating that the President or the Vice President has committed or has
(obviously based on the material placed before him in stage one) that
there is prima facie evidence against the said office bearers and that the
of a prima facie case by the Registrar will not do. The jurisdictional fact
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reason for this is not far to seek. The object of suspension is to facilitate
public interest and the pending inquiry when the authorities are satisfied
that the witnesses may hesitate to depose against the delinquent office
of subserving and aiding a free and impartial inquiry under Section 81.
(2012 4 SCC 407), the Supreme Court has stated the position in the
following terms:
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answerable to the electorate, and his right to represent them in the affairs
The threshold for suspension of an elected official is, therefore, very high
and it cannot be routinely resorted to as that would destroy the very basis
Section 76-A cannot exercise power for purposes that are foreign to the
hand and an evil eye. The benchmark has been set out in the decision of
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have to act bona fide and within the four corners of the
statute. In our view, the impugned order will not fall in
that category.”
elected member or an office bearer, let us take the extreme case of having
practices against him, it would seriously impact the rights of the elected
Parliament as the case may be. Obviously, this would offend the basic
tenets of democracy.
illustrate the fact that the seriousness is immediately felt when a reference
election of the Board or the office bearers is no less important, and the
only difference here is that the members of the Society elect them through
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be initiated against the elected members of the board or the office bearers.
based on a phone call received is said to have visited the society and
The nature of violation is that a valuable property worth more than Rs.5
crores is said to have been leased to one Mr.Murugan for a monthly rent
and 1 shop is now being put to use and all the other shops have not been
let out to any third party. The said authority had given their report to that
effect on 20.05.2021 to the 1st respondent and the 1st respondent in turn
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dated 24.05.2021 had ordered for an inquiry under Section 81 of the Act
and an inquiry officer has also been appointed. Pending this inquiry, the
effect that they were very much in charge of the affairs of the society
during May 2021 and no such inspection was conducted and they were
not even aware about the initiation of the inquiry under Sec 81 of the Act
and that they came to know of it only after receiving the suspension order
if this Court were to return a finding merely based on the assertions made
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by the petitioners and the same being denied by the respondents. The
been met.
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not merely the existence of prima facie material. The Registrar must
words, the Registrar must satisfy himself that if such suspension is not
made, there is scope for the office bearers to interfere with theinquiry
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and/or tamper with the evidence. In the absence of the any such
can go on.
rights of the elected members who have been voted to office, and must,
therefore, be exercised very sparingly and only in the clearest cases where
interfere and impede a free and fair inquiry under Section 81. Otherwise,
persons who have lost the election can always take control through a back
door by getting the Registrar pass an order suspending the office bearers
the light of the judgment of the Supreme Court in State of M.P. v. Sanjay
26.In the present case, things have moved very swiftly from
documents which are already available and taking statements from the
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evidence since the documents are already available with the respondents.
nothing on record to show how the Registrar had apprehended that the
and impartial inquiry. In other words, the Registrar has, quite evidently,
27.As has been pointed out, supra, a mere prima facie case
Section 76-A has, thus, not been met in this case. Ex-consequenti, the
Section 76-A of the Act are quashed. However, it is made clear that the
inquiry under Sec 81 of the Act can go on and a report shall be submitted
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by the inquiry officer within a period of 8 weeks from the date of receipt
of copy of the order. Needless to say that further action on the report shall
29.In the result, both the writ petitions are allowed on the
10.08.2021
Internet : Yes
Index : Yes/No
Speaking Order/Non Speaking Order
KP
.
To
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N.ANAND VENKATESH, J.
KP
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10.08.2021
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