Civil Appeal No. 8458 of 2014 (Arising out of Special Leave Petition (Civil) No. 9592 of 2012). Case: H.A. Martin Vs Moses Thambi Pillai. Supreme Court (India)
| Case Number | Civil Appeal No. 8458 of 2014 (Arising out of Special Leave Petition (Civil) No. 9592 of 2012) |
| Judges | Jasti Chelameswar and Arjan Kumar Sikri, JJ. |
| Issue | Societies Registration Act, 1860 - Section 6; Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975 - Sections 2, 3, 3(1), 3(2), 4, 4(1), 4(2), 4(3), 4(4), 14, 14(1), 15, 15(1), 15(3)(4)(5), 15(4), 20, 25(1), 25(2), 25(3), 26(1)(4), 28(1)(2), 29, 29(3), 36, 53, 54; Travancore-Cochin Literary, Scientific and Charitable Societies Registration Act, 1955 |
| Judgement Date | September 04, 2014 |
| Court | Supreme Court (India) |
Judgment:
Jasti Chelameswar, J.
1. Leave granted.
2. Aggrieved by the judgment dated 28.2.2011 of the Division Bench of the High Court in Writ Appeal No. 481 of 2011 the unsuccessful Appellants therein preferred the instant appeal.
3. The Appellants are three in number. The first Appellant Rt. Rev. Dr. H.A. Martin is the present Bishop of the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church (for short "TELC"). The second Appellant is shown to be the Treasure. The details of the person holding such an office are not mentioned anywhere. The third Appellant is the TELC, a body registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 which is not capable either of suing or being sued1. The 'Appellants' cannot be blamed. The first Respondent herein was the Petitioner in the writ petition. He chose his Respondents who became the Appellants herein. In an era of public interest litigation, rules of procedure are the first casualty.
4. The facts giving rise to this litigation are as follows:
A Society came to be registered in the year 1919 called Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church (TELC). The objects of the Society are diffusion of Christian truth among the Tamil speaking people, various kinds of "moral and social activities, such as, teaching and healing through pastoral evangelistic, educational works, medical work for the amelioration of the religious moral and social conditions of all classes of people.
5. In the year 1975, the State of Tamil Nadu enacted the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975 (27 of 1975) (for short "the Act"). Under Section 53 of the Act, every Society registered under the 1860 Act is deemed to be registered under the Act. Section 53 reads as under:
53. Application of Act to existing registered societies.--Every society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 (Central Act XXI of 1860), or under any law corresponding to this Act in force in the transferred territory immediately before the date of the commencement of this Act including the Travancore-Cochin Literary, Scientific and Charitable Societies Registration Act, 1955 (Travancore-Cochin Act XII of 1955), shall be deemed to be registered under this Act, and the bye-laws of such society, shall, in so far as they are not inconsistent with any provision of this Act, continue in force until altered or rescinded.
(Emphasis supplied)
6. It appears that an application was made by the earlier Bishop and the President of the TELC to the Government to exempt the TELC from all the provisions of the Act retrospectively from 22.4.1978. (Unfortunately, a copy of the representation is not made available nor any details of the same are available on record). The Government declined to grant such blanket exemption and advised the Society to be more specific about the provisions from the operation of which the Society seeks exemption.
7. Pursuant to the said advice, the Secretary of the Society made further representation dated 25.7.1981 seeking exemption from the provisions of Sections 14, 15(3) (4)(5), 25(3), 26(1)(4), 28(1)(2), 29(3) and 36 of the Act.
8. By G.O. Ms. No. 1708 dated 18.12.1981, the Government of Tamil Nadu exempted the Society retrospectively from 22.4.1978 from the operation of Sections 15(4), 25(3) and 29(3) of the Act, the relevant portion of which is extracted hereunder:
In exercise of powers conferred by Section 54 of the Tamilnadu Societies Registration Act, 1975 (Tamil Nadu Act 27 of 1975) the Governor of Tamil Nadu hereby exempts with retrospective effect from 22.4.1978:
1. The President or Bishop of the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church alone from the provision of Sub-section (4) of Section 15 of the Tamilnadu Societies Registration Act 1975 regarding the period of his term that it should not exceed more than three years; this exemption will not apply to the other members of the church council.
2. Also exempts the Church from the provision of Sub-section (3) of Section 25 of the Tamilnadu Societies Registration Act 1975 so as to ratify the action of the church in having paid the salary from out of its fund to the President or full time workers of the Church who come under the classification of "Officers" within the meaning of Clause (g) of Section 2 of the said Act.
3. And also exempts the church from the provision of Sub-section (3) of Section 29 of the Tamilnadu Societies Registration Act 1975 subject to the condition that necessary provisions are embodied in the bye-laws of the society for the supply of copies of minutes of the society's meeting and Financial statements to the members at specified intervals, free of charge.
(Emphasis supplied)
9. Not satisfied with the said order, the Secretary of the TELC filed the Writ Petition No. 523 of...
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