CHEN KHOI KUI Vs. LIANG MIAO SHENG

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Delay condoned.

(2.) Leave granted.

(3.) The main question which arises for adjudication in this appeal is as to whether the Registrar of Society, empowered to grant registration under West Bengal Registration Act 1961, also has the power to cancel such registration. There is no specific provision in the statute granting such authority the power to review or cancel his own decision. The root of the dispute lies in what appears to be a conflict between two groups of the chinese tannery owners in Kolkata over the control of a school. The school in question, as per pleadings, came into existence in the year 1929 as 'Pei May Chinese School', and operated out of a small hut in an area commonly referred to as China Town. Subsequently, the Chinese Tannery Owners' Association in Kolkata set up the school on a large tract of land in a locality known as Tangra. As per the appellant, the school was moved to this location, now carrying the street address P-1 and 2, Iswar Mondal Lane, Kolkata-700046. The tanners of Chinese origin at one point of time constituted an affluent and vibrant trade group in Kolkata in the field of processing and production of leather goods and they still have a presence in that sector. The Chinese Tannery Owners' Association was registered as a society in the year 1967 under the West Bengal Societies Registration Act, 1961. The Regulation of the Association, a copy of which has been annexed at page 72 of the paperbook records that the said association had been functioning since 1944 and has a school of its own known as Pei May School. The address of the school is also specified therein. The appellant claims to be the secretary of the school, which according to him was operated by the Chinese Tannery Owners' Association.