Appukuttan Achari Vs. Sree Mulamkadakam Devi Temple - Court Judgment

Excerpt:
[d.v. shylendra kumar j.] this writ petition is filed under articles 226 & 227 of the constitution of india with a prayer to direct the second respondent to implement the directions of the first respondent in the letter of the first respondent dated 5.2.2009 at annexure a.harun-ul-rashid, j.f.a.o.no.189 of 2010dated this the 10th day of november, 2010.j u d g m e n t1. the appellant is the petitioner in i.a.no.1314/2009 in o.s.no.97 of 1099 m.e on the file of the i additional district court, kollam. the appeal is directed against the order dated 14.6.2010 in the said i.a. the appeal is limited against the order to the extent it rejects the prayer sought for to remove respondents 2 to 5 and entrust the entire administration of the temple trust to the official receiver till a new committee assumes charge. 2. the matter relates to administration of sree mulankadakam devi temple. the procedure for the conduct of the election to the office bearers of the temple trust is stipulated in ext.p1 scheme. on an earlier occasion the secretary of the akhila kerala viswakarma mahasabha, kollam taluk union preferred w.p.(c).no.25195 of 2007 complaining about the conduct of the election held on 1.10.2006. according to the petitioner, in the said writ petition the election held on 1.10.2006 was not in accordance with the election procedure adopted in ext.p1 scheme, which was formulated by the district court for the administration of the said temple. the grievance was that there was no proper publication of the voters' list, that the voters' list does not contain the names of all the members, that the commissioner prepared a voters' list on the basis of the names given by the then bharana samithy, that the election was conducted without verification of the personal identification of the voters, that there were large number of fake voters, that the procedure stipulated in ext.p1 scheme are flouted by the commissioner, that proper publication was not done etc. the petitioner therein filed i.a.no.1414/2006 on 6.10.2006 challenging the election to the sree mulankadakam devi temple trust and sought to cancel the same. 3. the election was conducted on 1.10.2006. the period of managing committee is three years and by 30.9.2009 the period expired. this court heard the writ petition on 18.3.2009. finding that the period of the existing managing committee is about to expire, this court observed that what remains is the administration for a period of few months and that in such circumstances, this court is not examining the legality of the order passed by the court below with regard to the points raised by the petitioners in the writ petition. this court also observed that the approach made by the court below is wrong in passing the impugned order. this court did not interfere with the order under challenge in the writ petition finding since the period of the present committee will be over on 30.9.2009 and therefore observed that no purpose will be served by remanding the matter to pass orders afresh. 4. the appellant herein claiming to be a beneficiary filed i.a.no.1314 of 2009 praying to appoint a receiver to take charge of the administration and to remove respondents 2 to 5 from the office of the administrative committee of sree mulankadakam devi temple trust and to entrust the administration of the temple trust to the receiver till a newly elected committee assumes charge in the office. the court observed that even though the respondents have violated certain provisions in the scheme, at this stage, this court is not inclined to entrust the entire administration with the receiver. the court held that at this stage, the court is not inclined to allow the prayer of the petitioner. the court below further ordered that the present committee shall function under the supervision of the official receiver with regard to the maintenance of accounts as envisaged under clause 24 of the scheme, that the account maintained by the committee as per clause 24 shall be submitted before the receiver on the next day for verification, that the offering boxes shall be kept under lock and key of the receiver and that the receiver has to affix his seal on the lock and produce the key before the court. 5. this court disposed of w.p.(c).no.25195/2007 by judgment dated 18.3.2009 without deciding the issues raised in the writ petition solely for the reason that the period of the managing committee is about to expire. this court also in the said judgment observed that the approach of the court below in arriving at a decision in its order dated 18.1.2007 in i.a.no.1414 of 2006 is not satisfactory. this court did not go into the questions under the hope that the election will be conducted within the expiry of the period of the committee. the period of the existing committee expired on 30.9.2009. going by the relevant provisions of the bye law the existing committee shall initiate proceedings to conduct the election before the expiry of the committee. finding that the present committee is continuing in the office without conducting the election at the appropriate time the present i.a. was moved by one of the beneficiaries. the court below considered the i.a on merits. but, at the same time the court refused to pass appropriate orders finding that the term of the committee is about to expire. what is expected in such situation is the conduct of the election at appropriate time. election should have been held at the appropriate time and the new committee should have been assumed charge immediately on the expiry of the existing committee. instead, for reasons not known to this court, the conduct of the election is being dragged indefinitely. it is submitted by the counsel for the respondent that the returning officer was appointed to conduct the election by the court below. the order dated 15.1.2010 to appoint a returning officer itself is a belated action. it is submitted by the counsel for the respondent that the returning officer called for the voters list on 22.1.2010 and he has submitted the draft voters list on 30.7.2010. it is also submitted that the final voters list was submitted on 9.10.2010 for approval of the court. the list is pending for approval. learned counsel for the appellant submitted that neither the draft voters list nor the final voters list was served on the appellant. 6. in the circumstances, this court direct the court below to approve the voters list and pass orders to conduct the election at the earliest date. the election shall be conducted, at any rate, not beyond four months from today. the approval of the voters list shall be done after giving opportunity to the appellant to file objections. the approval shall be done after considering his objections and objections if any preferred by similarly situated persons and after hearing them. the court shall see that copies of the draft voters list and final voters list shall be served on the appellant. the court shall call for objections to the voters list from persons interested by publication in the newspapers having circulation in kollam and thiruvananthapuram taluks. publication shall be ordered at the next posting date. 7. the court below did not go into merits of the contentions raised by the petitioner for the reason that election will be conducted and the newly elected committee will take charge shortly. for the very same reason this court also did not go into the contentions raised in the appeal. in the interest of justice, the only course open to the court is to expedite the conduct of the election. it is ordered that the existing committee shall function under the supervision of the official receiver not only with regard to the maintenance of accounts as per clause 24 of the scheme as ordered by the i additional district court, kollam in the order dated 19.3.2010 in i.a.no.318 of 2010 but the official receiver shall also supervise the other regular sources of income of the temple and the income received during festival days. the account maintained by the committee with regard to other sources of income received by the temple by way of donations, vazhipadu receipts, rent etc. shall be submitted before the receiver for verification weekly (every saturday). in that event the receiver shall submit weekly report to the court regarding the income received from the above mentioned sources. 8. with the above said directions the appeal is disposed of.

Judgment:
HARUN-UL-RASHID, J.

F.A.O.No.189 Of 2010

Dated this the 10th day of November, 2010.

J U D G M E N T

1. The appellant is the petitioner in I.A.No.1314/2009 in O.S.No.97 of 1099 M.E on the file of the I Additional District Court, Kollam. The appeal is directed against the order dated 14.6.2010 in the said I.A. The appeal is limited against the order to the extent it rejects the prayer sought for to remove respondents 2 to 5 and entrust the entire administration of the temple trust to the official receiver till a new committee assumes charge.

2. The matter relates to administration of Sree Mulankadakam Devi Temple. The procedure for the conduct of the election to the office bearers of the temple trust is stipulated in Ext.P1 scheme. On an earlier occasion the Secretary of the Akhila Kerala Viswakarma Mahasabha, Kollam Taluk Union preferred W.P.(C).No.25195 of 2007 complaining about the conduct of the election held on 1.10.2006. According to the petitioner, in the said writ petition the election held on 1.10.2006 was not in accordance with the election procedure adopted in Ext.P1 scheme, which was formulated by the District Court for the administration of the said temple. The grievance was that there was no proper publication of the voters' list, that the voters' list does not contain the names of all the members, that the commissioner prepared a voters' list on the basis of the names given by the then Bharana Samithy, that the election was conducted without verification of the personal identification of the voters, that there were large number of fake voters, that the procedure stipulated in Ext.P1 scheme are flouted by the commissioner, that proper publication was not done etc. The petitioner therein filed I.A.No.1414/2006 on 6.10.2006 challenging the election to the Sree Mulankadakam Devi Temple Trust and sought to cancel the same.

3. The election was conducted on 1.10.2006. The period of managing committee is three years and by 30.9.2009 the period expired. This Court heard the writ petition on 18.3.2009. Finding that the period of the existing managing committee is about to expire, this Court observed that what remains is the administration for a period of few months and that in such circumstances, this Court is not examining the legality of the order passed by the court below with regard to the points raised by the petitioners in the writ petition. This Court also observed that the approach made by the court below is wrong in passing the impugned order. This Court did not interfere with the order under challenge in the writ petition finding since the period of the present committee will be over on 30.9.2009 and therefore observed that no purpose will be served by remanding the matter to pass orders afresh.

4. The appellant herein claiming to be a beneficiary filed I.A.No.1314 of 2009 praying to appoint a receiver to take charge of the administration and to remove respondents 2 to 5 from the office of the administrative committee of Sree Mulankadakam Devi Temple Trust and to entrust the administration of the Temple Trust to the receiver till a newly elected committee assumes charge in the office. The court observed that even though the respondents have violated certain provisions in the scheme, at this stage, this Court is not inclined to entrust the entire administration with the receiver. The court held that at this stage, the court is not inclined to allow the prayer of the petitioner. The court below further ordered that the present committee shall function under the supervision of the official receiver with regard to the maintenance of accounts as envisaged under clause 24 of the scheme, that the account maintained by the committee as per clause 24 shall be submitted before the receiver on the next day for verification, that the offering boxes shall be kept under lock and key of the receiver and that the receiver has to affix his seal on the lock and produce the key before the court.

5. This Court disposed of W.P.(C).No.25195/2007 by judgment dated 18.3.2009 without deciding the issues raised in the writ petition solely for the reason that the period of the managing committee is about to expire. This Court also in the said judgment observed that the approach of the court below in arriving at a decision in its order dated 18.1.2007 in I.A.No.1414 of 2006 is not satisfactory. This Court did not go into the questions under the hope that the election will be conducted within the expiry of the period of the committee. The period of the existing committee expired on 30.9.2009. Going by the relevant provisions of the bye law the existing committee shall initiate proceedings to conduct the election before the expiry of the committee. Finding that the present committee is continuing in the office without conducting the election at the appropriate time the present I.A. was moved by one of the beneficiaries. The court below considered the I.A on merits. But, at the same time the court refused to pass appropriate orders finding that the term of the committee is about to expire. What is expected in such situation is the conduct of the election at appropriate time. Election should have been held at the appropriate time and the new committee should have been assumed charge immediately on the expiry of the existing committee. Instead, for reasons not known to this Court, the conduct of the election is being dragged indefinitely. It is submitted by the counsel for the respondent that the returning officer was appointed to conduct the election by the court below. The order dated 15.1.2010 to appoint a returning officer itself is a belated action. It is submitted by the counsel for the respondent that the returning officer called for the voters list on 22.1.2010 and he has submitted the draft voters list on 30.7.2010. It is also submitted that the final voters list was submitted on 9.10.2010 for approval of the court. The list is pending for approval. Learned counsel for the appellant submitted that neither the draft voters list nor the final voters list was served on the appellant.

6. In the circumstances, this Court direct the court below to approve the voters list and pass orders to conduct the election at the earliest date. The election shall be conducted, at any rate, not beyond four months from today. The approval of the voters list shall be done after giving opportunity to the appellant to file objections. The approval shall be done after considering his objections and objections if any preferred by similarly situated persons and after hearing them. The court shall see that copies of the draft voters list and final voters list shall be served on the appellant. The court shall call for objections to the voters list from persons interested by publication in the newspapers having circulation in Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram Taluks. Publication shall be ordered at the next posting date.

7. The court below did not go into merits of the contentions raised by the petitioner for the reason that election will be conducted and the newly elected committee will take charge shortly. For the very same reason this Court also did not go into the contentions raised in the appeal. In the interest of justice, the only course open to the court is to expedite the conduct of the election. It is ordered that the existing committee shall function under the supervision of the official receiver not only with regard to the maintenance of accounts as per clause 24 of the scheme as ordered by the I Additional District Court, Kollam in the order dated 19.3.2010 in I.A.No.318 of 2010 but the official receiver shall also supervise the other regular sources of income of the temple and the income received during festival days. The account maintained by the committee with regard to other sources of income received by the temple by way of donations, vazhipadu receipts, rent etc. shall be submitted before the receiver for verification weekly (every Saturday). In that event the receiver shall submit weekly report to the court regarding the income received from the above mentioned sources.

8. With the above said directions the appeal is disposed of.