RAJ VARDHAN AZAD Vs. ALL INDIA OPHTHALMOLOGICAL SOCIETY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The dispute in the present case centres around the elections to the posts of Honorary General Secretary and Honorary Treasurer of the All India Ophthalmological Society (Defendant No.1). The elections took place in January, 2002 at Ahmedabad. There is no dispute in respect of the election of Dr.D.K. Sen as the President and Dr.Atul Kumar as the Joint Secretary etc. The controversy pertains to the post of Honorary General Secretary and Honorary Treasurer.

(2.) The functioning of any Society is to be carried out strictly in accordance with its Constitution and Bye-laws, to which even the General Body is the subject. If it is the view of the prescribed majority of the General Body, as specified in its Constitution, that amendments are required thereto, the Constitution must be amended before the views of the General Body can be implemented. This is the crux of the dispute. There is a provision in the present Constitution that the Honorary General Secretary, as well as the Honorary Treasurer, shall be from the same city. Perhaps this was with a view to ensure the smooth functioning of the Society. In today's day and age, with advanced technology, this requirement could possibly be viewed as being out-dated.

(3.) Defendant No.7 had contested the elections to the post of Honorary General Secretary along with Shri K.Ravi as Honorary Treasurer, both of the candidates being from Chennai. The opposite combination was that of Dr.Rajvardhan Azad(Plaintiff) as Honorary General Secretary and Dr.Lalit Verma as the Honorary Treasurer both of whom are from Delhi.