Case: Ishwar Chandra Vs. Satyanarain Sinha &amp; Others

easily come to Indore either by Car or by Plane. The Plane leaves Bhopal at about 9.00 a.m. and reaches Indore at about 9.30 a.m. After attending the meeting you can leave by plane which leaves for Bhopal at about 2.00 p.m. As far as Lunch is concerned, if you let me know if you are vegetarian or non-vegetarian, I can arrange to give you lunch at my place. If it is impossible for you to come to Indore I would request you to send me your suggestions regarding suitable names for the post of Vice-Chancellor of the Saugar University by the 3rd of April. I would, however, request you to make it convenient to attend the meeting at Indore. I have already sent you a telegram to the effect that the meeting is fixed on the 4th of April at Indore in the Meeting Room of the University of Indore at 10.30 a.m. Hoping to hear from you by the return of post and with kind regards." Before this letter reached, to the telegram received by him, Justice Naik wrote a letter to Shinde as follows:-"I am in receipt of you telegram intimating to me that you have fixed the meeting to consider panel of names for Saugar University on the 4th of April 1970, at 10.30 a.m. at Indore in the Indore University. I regret my inability to be present at Indore on the date and time specified. Though I may be able to attend the meeting if the venue is changed to Bhopal. It is very surprising that you should have fixed the meeting on the 4th of April at Indore, even though I had informed you by a telegram on the 17th of March 1970, that it would not be possible for me to attend it there, on that date. Anyway, knowing full well that it would not be possible for me to be present at Indore at 10.30 a.m. on April 4, 1970, you seem determined to hold the meeting there presumably in my absence. I can only regret your decision. If you are still interested in having my presence for the meeting, you may fix it either on the 4th or the 11th April 1970 at Saugar or Bhopal, though Bhopal would be more convenient to me personally. I hope you have recovered from the effects of your illness by now." This letter shows that though Justice Naik knew about the illness of Shinde, he somehow seems to have assumed, and if we may say so, without justification that Shinde was determined to hold it there presumably in his absence. On the 27th March 1970, the next day, he however, after the receipt of the letter of the 24th instant from Shinde did not take up the attitude that the meeting was being held presumably to keep him away from attending it. Justice Naik, however, tried to explain his difficulty. He said:- "I am in receipt of your letter dated 24th March 1970. I am sorry to note that you have not yet recovered from the effects of your illness. I do hope you shall soon get well. As for my coming to Indore. I had considered the possibility of my going there by air from Bhopal but I am informed that the journey is very bumpy these days due to weather conditions and I do get terribly sick if the journey is bumpy. I had, therefore, to give up the idea of going by air, and as I cannot spare more than a day for the meeting, I had intimated to you that it would not be possible for me to come to Indore for the meeting scheduled for the 4th of April 1970 at 10.30 a.m. in Indore University. As for your kindly suggestion that I may by a letter suggest names to you for your consideration, I am of opinion that it would not only not be fair to the persons whose names I may suggest but also not be in keeping with the letter and spirit of the Saugar University Act. With kind regards". This letter clearly negatives the assumption in the High Courts order that Shinde was trying to keep out Justice Naik from the meeting. On the other hand, Shinde in that letter had requested Justice Naik to suggest names of persons to be considered which prima facie negatives any intention on his part to keep Justice Naik away from the meeting. There is also nothing in the materials on the record to show that the correspondence cited above was perused by the Chancellor either at the time when the show cause notice was given to the appellant or at the time of making the impugned Order. It cannot, therefore, be assumed that the governor was influenced by the above correspondence. It is rather unfortunate that the appellants Writ Petition was dismissed in limine and without a proper appreciation of all the relevant facts. There is little doubt that the impugned Order made by the Chancellor was based entirely on the legality of the meeting where only two out of three members were present when the name of the appellant was recommended. The High Court delved into the correspondence to sustain the order of the Chancellor on grounds other than those relied upon by him in that order for dismissing the Writ Petition in limine, which in our view, was not justified. It is also not denied that the meeting held by two of the three members on the 4th April 1970 was legal because sufficient notice was given to all the three members. If for one reason or the other one of them could not attend, that does not make the meeting of others illegal. In such circumstances, where there is no rule or regulation or any other provision for fixing the quorum, the presence of the majority of the members would constitute it a valid meeting and matters considered thereat cannot be held to be invalid.

Decision (1 = appeal accepted, 0 = rejected): 1

Explanation:
1[ds]5. The assumption in this order rejecting the Writ Petition is not warranted, firstly, because the correspondence does not show that there was any deliberate attempt made by the Chairman to exclude one of the members, in this case, Justice T. P. Naik, and secondly, that the Chancellor had, because of this exclusion, declared the meeting held on the 4th April 1970 as not being valid. We have already pointed out that the Chancellor was merely concerned with the legality of the recommendation made by two out of three members and not that any attempt was made by the Chairman to exclude one of the members. Neither the show cause notice, nor the reply given by the appellant to that notice, nor even the Order of the Chancellor indicates any such ground as that assumed by the High Court to form the basis of the Chancellors order. The correspondence shows that the Chairman had written a letter on the 12th February 1970 in which he inquired of Justice Naik whether the 7th and 8th March 1970 would suit him to meet at Bhopal to consider the names for the panel. Later on the 20th February, 1970, he wrote another letter saying that the other member was abroad, and therefore, the meeting which was proposed to be held on the 7th or 8th cannot be held and that he would let him know when a new date was fixed. In fact Justice Naik replied on the 27th February 1970 acknowledging these letters and asking him to let him know the date of the meeting as and when fixed On the 8th March 1970 Mr. Shinde again wrote to Justice Naik fixing the meeting on the 21st March 1970 at 10.30 a. m. at Indore and also suggested that if necessary they may meet the next day, the 22nd March 1970. On the 16th March 1970 Shinde sent a telegram to Justice Naik asking him to wire if 4th April was suitable at Indore. On the 18th March 1970, he again sent a telegram to him saying: "Doctors Forbid travel stop wire whether 4th and 11th April suitable for Indore." Justice Naik sent two telegrams, one on the 21st March 1970 saying that 4th is suitable at Saugar or Bhopal and another on the 27th March 1970 stating that both 4th and 11th suitable at Saugar or Bhopal He also wrote two letters on the 26th and 27th to Shinde. Shinde had earlier written on the 24th March 1970 to Justice Naik in which he said as follows:-"The contents of your telegram were conveyed to me on the phone today. It appears that 4th and 11th April both are suitable to you at Sugar and Bhopal. As I told you before, I am recovering from the attack of virus fever and am, therefore, not strong enough to undertake a car journey of 120 miles to Bhopal. There is no convenient plane to come to Bhopal either. If I come by plane I shall have to stay over the night at the Circuit House and as I am still on diet, the Circuit House food will not suit me. As you can come up to Bhopal you can easily come to Indore either by Car or by Plane. The Plane leaves Bhopal at about 9.00 a.m. and reaches Indore at about 9.30 a.m. After attending the meeting you can leave by plane which leaves for Bhopal at about 2.00 p.m. As far as Lunch is concerned, if you let me know if you are vegetarian or non-vegetarian, I can arrange to give you lunch at my place. If it is impossible for you to come to Indore I would request you to send me your suggestions regarding suitable names for the post of Vice-Chancellor of the Saugar University by the 3rd of April. I would, however, request you to make it convenient to attend the meeting at Indore. I have already sent you a telegram to the effect that the meeting is fixed on the 4th of April at Indore in the Meeting Room of the University of Indore at 10.30 a.mHoping to hear from you by the return of post and with kind regards."Before this letter reached, to the telegram received by him, Justice Naik wrote a letter to Shinde as follows:-"I am in receipt of you telegram intimating to me that you have fixed the meeting to consider panel of names for Saugar University on the 4th of April 1970, at 10.30 a.m. at Indore in the Indore UniversityI regret my inability to be present at Indore on the date and time specified. Though I may be able to attend the meeting if the venue is changed to BhopalIt is very surprising that you should have fixed the meeting on the 4th of April at Indore, even though I had informed you by a telegram on the 17th of March 1970, that it would not be possible for me to attend it there, on that dateAnyway, knowing full well that it would not be possible for me to be present at Indore at 10.30 a.m. on April 4, 1970, you seem determined to hold the meeting there presumably in my absence. I can only regret your decisionIf you are still interested in having my presence for the meeting, you may fix it either on the 4th or the 11th April 1970 at Saugar or Bhopal, though Bhopal would be more convenient to me personallyI hope you have recovered from the effects of your illness by now." This letter shows that though Justice Naik knew about the illness of Shinde, he somehow seems to have assumed, and if we may say so, without justification that Shinde was determined to hold it there presumably in his absence. On the 27th March 1970, the next day, he however, after the receipt of the letter of the 24th instant from Shinde did not take up the attitude that the meeting was being held presumably to keep him away from attending it. Justice Naik, however, tried to explain his difficulty. He said:-"I am in receipt of your letter dated 24th March 1970. I am sorry to note that you have not yet recovered from the effects of your illness. I do hope you shall soon get wellAs for my coming to Indore. I had considered the possibility of my going there by air from Bhopal but I am informed that the journey is very bumpy these days due to weather conditions and I do get terribly sick if the journey is bumpy. I had, therefore, to give up the idea of going by air, and as I cannot spare more than a day for the meeting, I had intimated to you that it would not be possible for me to come to Indore for the meeting scheduled for the 4th of April 1970 at 10.30 a.m. in Indore UniversityAs for your kindly suggestion that I may by a letter suggest names to you for your consideration, I am of opinion that it would not only not be fair to the persons whose names I may suggest but also not be in keeping with the letter and spirit of the Saugar University ActWith kind regards"This letter clearly negatives the assumption in the High Courts order that Shinde was trying to keep out Justice Naik from the meeting. On the other hand, Shinde in that letter had requested Justice Naik to suggest names of persons to be considered which prima facie negatives any intention on his part to keep Justice Naik away from the meeting. There is also nothing in the materials on the record to show that the correspondence cited above was perused by the Chancellor either at the time when the show cause notice was given to the appellant or at the time of making the impugned Order. It cannot, therefore, be assumed that the governor was influenced by the above correspondence. It is rather unfortunate that the appellants Writ Petition was dismissed in limine and without a proper appreciation of all the relevant facts. There is little doubt that the impugned Order made by the Chancellor was based entirely on the legality of the meeting where only two out of three members were present when the name of the appellant was recommended. The High Court delved into the correspondence to sustain the order of the Chancellor on grounds other than those relied upon by him in that order for dismissing the Writ Petition in limine, which in our view, was not justified. It is also not denied that the meeting held by two of the three members on the 4th April 1970 was legal because sufficient notice was given to all the three members. If for one reason or the other one of them could not attend, that does not make the meeting of others illegal. In such circumstances, where there is no rule or regulation or any other provision for fixing the quorum, the presence of the majority of the members would constitute it a valid meeting and matters considered thereat cannot be held to be invalid