Arun Tandon, J.Heard Sri Ratnesh Kumar Pandey, advocate on behalf of the petitioner, standing counsel on behalf of respondent Nos. 1 and 3 and Sri D.N. Pandey, advocate on behalf of respondent No. 2.

2. Vidyawati Higher Secondary School, Shahpur, district Azamgarh, is a society duly registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. The said society has established an institution in the name and style Vidyawati Inter College, Shahpur, Sarain, district Azamgarh. Sri Sadanand Tiwari claiming himself to be the Secretary of the said Society has filed this writ petition against the order dated 4.12.2003, passed by the Assistant Registrar Firms, Societies and Chits, Azamgarh Region, Azamgarh, respondent No. 1, whereby the Assistant Registrar has rejected the representation made by the petitioner and has directed that the list of office bearers be registered for the year 2003-04 in pursuance of the elections which had taken place on 2.3.2003.

3. The aforesaid elections dated 2.3.2003 were declared valid by the Assistant Registrar while rejecting the objection of the petitioners vide order dated 7.6.2003, Feeling aggrieved with the order dated 7.6.2003, the petitioner approached this Court by filing Writ Petition No. 31188 of 2003. The said writ petition was allowed and the order dated 7.6.2003 was quashed. The Assistant Registrar was directed to decide the representation of the petitioner afresh after affording opportunity of hearing to the parties concerned. The Assistant Registrar in compliance of the judgment of this Court has now passed the order dated 4.12.2003 by which he has again upheld the validity of the elections held on 2.3.2003 and rejected the objections filed by the petitioners in the form of representation.

4. The only ground contended before this Court on behalf of the petitioners is that the order passed by the Assistant Registrar dated 4.12.2003, is patently illegal inasmuch as the fresh elections had been held by the outgoing office bearers after their term had already expired. The term of the office bearers of the society as prescribed in the bye-laws of the society is three years. The last undisputed elections were held in the year 1998. It is therefore submitted that in view of Section 25 (2) of the Societies Registration Act, the office bearers had no jurisdiction to hold any elections subsequent to the expiry of the said period of three years from the date the last elections were held, i.e.. 15th March, 1998. Fresh elections, if any, could have been conducted by the Registrar only u/s 25 (2) of the Societies Registration Act. The petitioners have placed reliance upon the judgment of this Court passed in Writ Petition No. 19830 of 2003, Committee of Management Lok Shiksha Parishad, Pataherawa, Kashi Nagar v. Assistant Registrar Firms, Societies and Chits, Gorakhpur and Ors., decided on 25.10.2004.

5. On behalf of respondents it is contended that although in the bye-laws of the society the term of the elected office bearers has been provided 3 years, however the elected office bearers continue to hold the office till the fresh office bearers take over inasmuch as there is no provision in the bye-laws which makes the elected office bearers defunct after 3 years. It is further contended that so long as an order u/s 25 (2) of the Societies Registration Act is not issued by the Registrar for the purposes of convening a meeting for holding fresh elections it is always open to the elected office bearers to hold elections of the Committee of Management even after expiry of the term provided in the bye-laws inasmuch as no vacuum is contemplated in the bye-laws. It is, therefore, submitted that there is no illegality in the elections held on 2.3.2003 and the writ petition deserves to be dismissed.

6. For appreciating the controversy raised in the present writ petition it would be relevant to refer to Section 25 (2) and (3) of the Societies Registration Act, 1860, which are quoted below :

"25. Disputes regarding election of office bearers.--(1).................................................................................................

(2) Where an order made under Sub-section (1), an election is set aside or an office bearer is held no longer entitled to continue in office or where the Registrar is satisfied that any election of office bearers of a society has not been held within the time specified in the rules of that society, he may call meeting of the general body of such society for electing such office bearer or office bearers, and such meeting shall be presided over and be conducted by the Registrar or by any officer authorised by him in this behalf, and the provisions in the rules of the society relating to meetings and elections shall apply to such meeting and election with necessary modifications.

(3) Where a meeting is called by the Registrar under Sub-section (2), no other meeting shall be called for the purpose of election by any other authority or by any person claiming to be an office bearer of the society.

Explanation. -- For the purposes of this section, the expression prescribed authority means an officer or Court authorised in this behalf by the State Government by notification published in the Official Gazette."

7. A bare reading of the aforesaid section would establish that the right to convene a meeting for the purposes of holding elections of the office bearers of the outgoing Committee of Management and after expiry of the term of the office bearers the society is lost only when the Registrar passes order u/s 25 (2) of the for convening a meeting of the general body of the society for the purposes of holding fresh election of the Committee of Management. It is at that stage only that outgoing office bearers are debarred from convening any meeting for the said purpose.

8. In the facts of the present case it is admitted position that no such order was passed by the Registrar u/s 25 (2). Thus, the power to convene a meeting of General Body for holding fresh elections was not lost and there is no bar either in the bye-laws of the society or under the Societies Registration Act in holding of fresh elections by the outgoing office bearers. In such circumstances the elections which have been held on 2.3.2003, even after expiry of the term of the office bearers of the society, cannot be said to be illegal or invalid in any manner and the objections raised in that regard cannot be legally sustained.

9. So far as the judgment passed in Civil Misc. Writ Petition No. 19830 of 2003 (supra), decided on 25.10.2004, is concerned suffice it to point out that the parties in the aforesaid writ petition had conceded that no undisputed election of the office bearers of the Society had been held since 1995, i.e., for nearly 9 years and in such circumstances the Court proceeded to direct the Registrar to get fresh elections of the Committee of Management held u/s 25 (2) of the. The facts of the aforesaid case are clearly distinguishable and have no application so far as the contentions raised in the present writ petition are concerned.

10. The writ petition is accordingly dismissed.