MAHANT MADAN MOHANDAS Vs. STATE OF M.P.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By the instant petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner is questioning the legality, validity and propriety of orders dtd. 2/8/2021 (Annexure-P/9) and 14/9/2021 (Annexure-P/10) passed by respondent No.1.

(2.) Learned counsel for the petitioner is challenging the impugned orders confining his submission to the extent that those orders have not been passed by the competent authority. According to him the orders can be passed by the Registrar and as per the Sec. 3 of Madhya Pradesh Public Trusts Act, 1951 (for short the 'Act, 1951'), the Collector of the District shall be the Registrar but the officer who is at present holding the post Registrar, is the Sub Divisional Officer and by virtue of work distribution memo he has been assigned the work of Registrar and as per Sec. 34-A of the Act, 1951 though the Registrar can delegate the powers to any revenue officer not below the rank of Sub Divisional Officer, but in the present case, there is no such delegation in favour of the Sub Divisional Officer by the Registrar (Collector) but only under work distribution memo orders have been passed and as such, the impugned orders passed by respondent No.1/Sub Divisional Officer are void. Though the issue raised by the petitioner is purely legal and said position has not been disputed by Shri Utkarsh Agrawal, learned counsel appearing for the contesting respondent i.e. respondent No.2 but he opposes the petition on the ground of locus of the petitioner and submits that the petition is not maintainable as the petitioner has no locus to challenge the impugned orders.

(3.) As per the fact of the case, Mandir Shri Kamali Ji Trust Samiti (for brevity the 'Trust') is a public trust registered under the provisions of the Act, 1951 bearing registration No.01/B-113/1964-65.