Board Of Trust.Of Mart.Memo.Trust & Anr vs Union Of India & Ors

2. Martyrs Memorial Trust (Shaheed Smarak Nyas), the first appellant, a public charitable trust (for short “the Trust”), was constituted by a deed of declaration dated June 5, 1997. The preamble of the Deed of Trust records that the people of India suffered immensely under the British Rule for more than two hundred years and at the call of Mahatma Gandhi, thousands of men and women from different walks of life joined the National Freedom Movement and directly associated themselves with various constructive programmes. It was decided to constitute a public charitable trust in the fond memory of the martyrs and freedom fighters hailing from Ballia and eastern Uttar Pradesh with a view to perpetuate their names and strengthening the task of nation building.

4. In order to ensure the establishment of Shaheed Smarak at Ballia, the Ministry of Human Resources & Development nominated Shri Chandra Shekhar as the President and some freedom fighters and other including ex-officio trustees to look after various aspects of the Trust.

6. The Deed of Trust also provides that the management and control of the Trust and the Trust properties shall vest in the Board of Trustees which shall comprise of not less than three nor more than fifteen trustees including the Chairman and Managing Trustee. Shri Chandra Shekhar, Shri Narayan Dutt Tiwari and the Secretary, Culture, Government of India were first three trustees; Shri Chandra Shekhar being the Chairman. In addition to the above, the Secretary, Culture, Government of Uttar Pradesh, the Accountant General, U.P (or their respective nominees) and District Magistrate, Ballia are made ex-officio trustees and they hold their office as long as they continue in the same capacity.

8. On March 27, 2002, the office of the District Collector, Ballia allotted Government accommodation Nos. 1 and 2 of the Revenue Department, Ballia to the Trust as it was lying vacant. The permission for allotment of the above Government accommodation to the Trust was also accorded by the State Government. The Board of Trustees passed a resolution to establish I.T. Training Institute under the aegis of the Trust for the poor and underprivileged students. The Institute was established in the name of Dr. Ganeshi Prasad, a well known Mathematician. The Institute had been functioning from the Government accommodation and also the building constructed on the adjoining land. The building on the adjoining land is said to have been constructed under the M.P. Local Area Development Scheme for 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 and some other funds. The said Institute is authorized to run DOEACC Society's 'O' Level and 'CCC' courses conducted by the Information and Technology Ministry, Government of India. This Institute is recognized by the Government of India to teach backward and poor students under EGTS (Employment Generation Training Scheme).

10. Strangely, on May 15, 2009, the District Collector, Ballia issued an order cancelling the allotment of Government accommodation made in favour of the Trust on the grounds that a request has been received from the Secretary of the Trust vide his letter dated February 28, 2009 that allotment be cancelled because no work of the Trust was being done from the premises and the Trust was not using the said accommodation. The Secretary of Trust is none other than the District Collector himself.

11. Subsequent to the order of cancellation dated May 15, 2009, the District Collector, Ballia and other officials of the State accompanied by the police force sealed the Government accommodation although the examinations were to commence on August 29, 2009. This led the Principal of the Institute, Mr. Pradeep Rai to file a Writ Petition No. 44477 of 2009 before the Allahabad High Court seeking a writ of mandamus for a direction to the District Collector, Ballia and other officials of the State to open the locks and seal.

19. The appellants alleged in the Writ Petition that Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which was ruling the State, did not have a office at Ballia. BSP started putting pressure on the District Magistrate, Ballia for cancellation of the Government accommodation and the District Magistrate, under the political pressure, wrote a letter to himself in his capacity as Secretary of the Trust requesting for surrender of the Government accommodation. The misuse of the position by the District Magistrate was also alleged. It was alleged that in the absence of any resolution passed by the Board of Trustees, the decision taken by the District Magistrate, Ballia, who happened to be the Secretary of the Trust, to surrender the Government accommodation to himself and then cancelling the allotment in his capacity as District Magistrate was illegal.

22. In the present case, the appellants have raised some serious issues concerning the action of the District Collector, Ballia. The Secretary of the Trust also happened to be the District Collector. He is alleged to have not convened any meeting of the Trust and on his own, took a decision to surrender the Government accommodation allotted to the Trust on make believe and self created grounds that the allotted Government accommodation was not being used by the Trust for the purpose for which it was allotted to the said Trust. The appellants have alleged that the action of the District Magistrate by sending a communication dated February 28, 2009, as the Secretary of the Trust for surrendering the Government accommodation and then passing the order himself on September 15, 2009 cancelling the allotment was at the behest of the BSP which was ruling the State at that time. It has also been alleged that this was done because BSP was not having any office in Ballia and so it started putting pressure on the District Magistrate for cancelling the Government accommodation allotted to the Trust. These serious allegations did require response from the District Magistrate, Ballia who wrote the letter in his capacity as Secretary of the Trust on February 28, 2009 to himself and then passed an order of cancellation of allotment of Government accommodation of the Trust in his capacity as District Magistrate on May 15, 2009.

16. In the above Writ Petition, the Trust challenged the order dated May 15, 2009 cancelling the allotment of Government accommodation in favour of the Trust.

22. We are satisfied that the impugned order cannot be sustained and has to be set-aside as the Writ Petition filed by the appellants (petitioners before the High Court) deserves fresh consideration and hearing after receipt of the response from the respondents.

23 Appeal is allowed to the above extent. The impugned order is set-aside. Civil Misc. Writ Petition No. 49841 of 2009 – Board of Trustees of Martyrs Memorial Trust and another vs. Union of India and others is restored to the file of the High Court of judicature at Allahabad for fresh consideration and disposal, as noted above. The parties shall bear their own costs.

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