Bombay High Court proposes fresh election for Asiatic Society amid membership row

Kaloti had also raised “serious questions” about the functioning of the managing committee and referred to reports of several rare books missing from the Asiatic Library. Until a new managing committee is formed, the Society’s affairs will be overseen by an observer and a sub-committee comprising five members.

The polls for 19 vacant seats on the managing committee were to be between panels led by Ketkar and former BJP Rajya Sabha member Vinay Sahasrabuddhe.

On April 8, Justice Dubash stayed the implementation of the said ‘last-minute’ order. On March 14, another bench of Justice Jitendra S Jain had refused to stay the March 13 decision.

On Thursday, Advocate General (AG) Milind Sathe justified the Charity Commissioner’s order and argued that the programme had been announced earlier for the November 7 elections, and that the impugned order merely sought fresh elections with the same nominations that had been frozen.

However, AG Sathe said that since the end of September, nearly 1,467 new members have been enrolled, even after elections were announced, nominations were frozen, and the scrutiny committee’s term had expired.

“They are obviously enrolled by the people who have filed nominations to support them. That possibly must be the reason,” Sathe argued. He added that the petitioners’ argument of no prior notice before passing of the March 13 order was “incorrect”

Justice Dubash sought to understand how the electoral base, or the voters’ base, can be allowed to grow if nominations are frozen.

When Justice Dubash sought to know whether the authority would consider the 1,400 members concerned, Sathe replied, “If they are properly enrolled, they can be there. The concerned panel (of observer and five committee members) can decide.”

Desirable solution

“If you move the legal way, the elections are not going to be held in the near future,” Justice Dubash orally remarked.

The judge said that if the matter is sent back to the Charity Commissioner again, his order will take another two months, followed by a challenge in the HC. “So we are realistically looking at one more year,” the judge orally said after hearing AG Sathe for authority and senior advocate Atul Damle for petitioners.

The judge said there were two ways, practical and legal, to address the matter and if the parties chose the latter, “something desirable for both can be worked out”.

The lawyers then suggested an entirely fresh election process with the relevant panel deciding the eligibility of members/voters enrolled after October 3, 2025, followed by finalisation of the voters’ list and polls through fresh nominations.

The HC then asked the parties to provide the timeline for the fresh process, so that it can pass a relevant order on Friday, April 17.
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