E SHARMA Vs. STATE OF ASSAM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This petition under Art. 226 of the Constitution of India, stated to be in public interest, seeks, seizure of all Books of accounts of the Assam State Branch of Red Cross Society, direction to Respon-dents No. 3 and 4 to open up for new membership, direction to Respondent No. 4 to call Annual General Meeting forthwith and to appoint committee to enquire into all acts of the Red Cross Society for last seven years and thereafter take appropriate action. The Respondent No. 3 is the Indian Red Cross Society Assam State Branch hereinafter referred as the 'Society', and the Respondent No. 4 is its Honorary Secretary.

(2.) The petitioner obtained M.B.B.S. degree in the year 1975 and started private practice at Gauhati. The petitioner attended M/s. Borthakur Nursing Home and in the year 1982 went to America for about a year. On return the petitioner again started private practice at Gauhati and was attached with M/s. East End Nursing Home. She later joined he Christian Medical College Hospital, Vellore and remained there up to 1987. In the first part of 1988, the petitioner was ap-pointed in the Red Cross Hospital at Chand-mari. The petitioner resigned the post on 12-5-1989. This petition was filed on 23-5-1989.

(3.) Shri V. K. Dewan, learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that this petition has been filed in public interest for the reasons mainly that no Annual General Meeting of the Respondent No. 3 has been held for the last ten years, that the resources of the Society have been misused and utilized for extraneous purposes, that two floors of the newly constructed building of the Red Cross Hospital at Uxanbazar had been let out to make profit ignoring the need for providing more accommodation in hospital, that some persons had held office of the Society for a number of years even though it was provided that no office bearer shall remain for more than three years, that the respondent No. 4 misused vehicles of the Society, that trainee nurses had been sent on Special night duty for extraneous consideration, that there was lack of care of patients in the hospital, and the medicines used were sub-standard, that the Red Cross Hospital had become an abortion centre, that its Finance Committee had not met for the last four years, that there was total mismanagement in the institution and only a handful of persons had been controlling the institution for their own benefits, that there had been serious allegations in the year 1982 by two Trainee nurses against the respondent No. 4 as contained in letter to a Newspaper Editor Annexure R4 with the rejoinder affidavit and that there was newspaper report in the Assamese newspaper "Boodhbar" dated 19-7-1989 (copy at Annexure-R7) and a petition by some persons to the Governor of Assam (Annexure R6).