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. (Para 3)
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. (Para 3)
Dispute arose when the Registrar, under the aforesaid Statute, granted certificate of Registration in the name of ‘Pei May Chinese High School’ as an independent society on 19.02.2010 in response to an application made by the respondents herein. The address of this society has been shown to be P-1-2, Iswar Mondal Lane over which the Chinese Tannery Owners’ Association claim title. The appellant contends that the said association has no connection whatsoever with Pei May Chinese High School. This dispute was initially raised with the Registrar by filing a complaint. The appellant, on 17.08.2010, had submitted to the Registrar copies of letters by seven individuals who had been shown as office bearers/members of the “Pei May Chinese High School” society. Their letters were broadly to the effect that they were never appointed in such capacity, as was shown in the memorandum of association of the “school society”. The said letters carried the request for cancelling the registration of Pei May Chinese High School as a society. There were allegations of forgery and fabrication of signatures in this set of complaints. (Para 4)
This was a suit for declaration and injunction and the substantive relief of the plaintiff therein was to restrain the respondents from interfering with the administration of Pei May Chinese High School. It appears that in an interlocutory proceeding taken out in connection with that suit, ad-interim injunction was granted in favour of the appellant. (Para 5)
The order of the Registrar, from which the present proceeding originates was passed in pursuance of an earlier Division Bench judgment of the Calcutta High Court in APOT No. 498 of 2015 delivered on 14.01.2016. This judgment records (Para 6)
The Registrar had passed an order for cancelling the registration on 19.04.2016 and it was, inter-alia, held in this order (Para 7)
The order of the Registrar passed on 19.04.2016 was unsuccessfully assailed before a Single Judge of the High Court in Writ Petition No.391 of 2016 and Writ Petition No.518 of 2016. (Para 8)
In terms of the Clause 36 of the Letters Patent Act, 1865 of the Calcutta High Court, the matter was referred to a third Judge and the Referee Judge formulated the following two questions for answering the reference (Para 9)
The Referee Judge opined that the Registrar had proceeded to exercise his power of substantive review and that too without reference to the application for registration that succeeded. This has been recorded in paragraph 38 of the judgment impugned, which we have reproduced above. (Para 12)
One of the points raised on behalf of the appellant before us is that the judgment of the Division Bench delivered on 14.01.2016 not having been appealed against, has attained finality and it was not permissible for the Division Bench, and subsequently by the Referee Judge to re-examine the question as to the manner in which the Registrar had exercised his power. But we find that the Referee Judge has not addressed any issue already covered by the decision of the Division Bench delivered on 14.01.2016. The Division Bench has explained the position of law on the aspect of power of substantive review and procedural review. The Referee Judge has only applied the same principle to test the order of the Registrar. Thus, we do not think the principle of constructive res judicata applied against the respondents so far as this point is concerned. Moreover, before the Referee Judge, the dispute centred around the decision taken by the Registrar after the Division Bench had delivered the judgment on 14.01.2016 and it formed a fresh cause of action. (Para 13)
But this fact, in our opinion, does not conclude the dispute and in any event closure report cannot result in final determination of the dispute between two sets of parties on the adjudication of allegations of filing false and fabricated documents before the Registrar of Societies. Otherwise, the respondents have defended the judgment which is under appeal before us. (Para 14)
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
2023 STPL(Web) 266 SC
[2023 INSC 827]
Chen Khoi Kui Vs. Liang Miao Sheng & Ors.
Civil appeal no. 5849-5850 of 2023 (Arising out of Petition for Special Leave to Appeal (Civil) No._____________ @ Diary No.29700 of 2019)-Decided on 13-9-2023
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