MAHADEORAO GULABRAO BHUIBAR Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) PARTIES by Counsel, Rule. Heard forthwith.

(2.) THE instant writ petition can be disposed of on the basis of the preliminary objection regarding its maintainability raised on behalf of the respondents 2 and 3. Principally the preliminary objection is that none of the respondents 2 and 3 is holding a "public Office" and therefore, a writ of quo-warranto or any other appropriate writ, order, and/or direction in the nature of quo-warranto should be issued under Article 226 of the Constitution of India to remove them from the offices held by them in Shree Shivaji Education Society, Amravati.

(3.) THE basic facts relevant to the consideration of the above preliminary objection are that Shree Shivaji Education Society, Amravati is a Society registered under the provisions of the Societies Registration Act, 1860. The said Society was established long back on 2nd December 1932 by Dr. Punjabrao Deshmukh for making the educational facilities available to the people in the Vidarbha region. With this object, the said Society has established several educational Institutions in the Vidarbha Region including schools and colleges. The colleges are in the various faculties such as Arts, Commerce, Science, Law, Engineering, Medicine and Agriculture. The said Society is also registered as a Public Trust under the provisions of the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950, which is the requirement for getting recognition for secondary schools as well as the colleges run by it under the appropriate provisions of rules made by the State Government in this regard. According to the petitioners, who claim to be the members of the Managing Committee of the said Society, about 93,553 students are taking education in various educational institutions of this Society and about 4330 employees are employed by it. The annual budget of the Society according to them runs into crores of rupees which consists of the grant-in-aid received by its schools and colleges from the State Government, apart from the gifts and donations.