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HC sets aside assistant charity commissioner’s order on Asiatic Society polls membership list

The HC, however, said that it would not interfere in the upcoming election schedule or the process as it was the returning officer's prerogative to take a decision on it.

2 min readMumbaiUpdated: Nov 7, 2025 05:15 PM IST

Assistant Charity Commissioner, Asiatic Society polls, Asiatic Society polls membership list, Bombay High Court, Mumbai news, Maharashtra news, Indian express, current affairs

After hearing submissions, a bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Sandesh D Patil set aside the concerned clause in administrative direction of the Assistant Charity Commissioner being against the section 41A of Maharashtra Public Trust Act.

The Bombay High Court on Thursday set aside an order of the Assistant Charity Commissioner that directed the returning officer for November 8 elections for the managing committee of the Asiatic Society to consider the membership list finalised in the September 27 annual general meeting and scrutinised on October 3.

The HC, however, said that it would not interfere in the upcoming election schedule or the process as it was the returning officer’s prerogative to take a decision on it.

The HC was hearing pleas by the life members and resident members who challenged the October 31 decision passed under Maharashtra Public Trust Act, 1950 stating that they were eligible to vote in the November 8 elections.

The petitioners through senior advocate Atul Damle along with advocates Bhavesh Parmar and Rahul Gaikwad said that they were admitted to be the members of Asiatic Society on or about October 15 and therefore, through the impugned order, they are deprived from casting their votes in the upcoming elections.

The petitioners further submitted that the Assistant Charity Commissioner’s decision “encroached upon the rights of the petitioner and similarly placed persons” and “deprives them of their right to vote” despite being the members of the respondent Trust.

They also added that “till date no list of eligible members is published and therefore petitioners are not able to take any objections on the list of members, if need be, which is a well-known process in any election.”

The pleas sought directive from the court to declare the impugned order to be bad in law, perverse and illegal along with directive to conduct elections in fair and transparent manner including declaring list of candidates and eligible members as on date. Pending the hearing of the plea, the petitioners had sought directive to stay the effect of the impugned order along with the election process.

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Omkar Gokhale

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