LexH.A. MARTIN & OTHERS versus MOSES THAMBI PILLAI & OTHERS
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A B [2014] 9 S.C.R. 530 H.A. MARTIN & OTHERS v. MOSES THAMBI PILLAI & OTHERS (Civil Appeal No. 8458 of 2014) SEPTEMBER 04, 2014 [J. CHELAO/IESWAR AND A.K. SIKRI, JJ.] Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975 - s. 53 - Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church (TELC) - Whether a C Society registered under the Act in view of s. 53 - Held: TELC is not a Society governed by the provisions of the Act - Act is not applicable to TELC at all - Thus, the issue of exemption from the provisions of the Act did not arise - Section 53 declares that every Society registered under the 1860 Act shall D be deemed to be registered under the 1975 Act - Such construction is not called for in view of the scheme of the Act and more particularly scheme of s. 4 - s. 4(3) expressly excludes the operation of s. 4(1) and 4(2) thereby relieving both the classes of Societies-the Societies formed after E coming into the existence of the 1975 Act and the Societies which were in existence but not registered under any law prior to the commencement of the 1975 Act covered by Section 4(1) and 4(2) which have for their object the promotion of religion - Such an interpretation which would be in violation F of Art. 14 is required to be avoided - There can neither be any reasonable basis for such classification nor any purpose to be achieved by such classification - Neither of the parties nor the administration or the judiciary (Bar & Bench) had the time nor inclination to examine the scheme of the 1975 Act, which resulted in wastage of time of the judiciary as well as G the administration - Societies Requistration Act, 1860. H The question which arose for consideration before . this Court was whether a Society such as Tamil 530 H.A. MARTIN. v. MOSES THAMBI PILLAI 531 Evangelical Lutheran Church is required to be treated as A Society registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975 in view of the operation of Section 53 of the Act. Allowing the appeal, the Court B HELD: 1.1. Various provisions of the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975 seek to. regulate the activities of the Societies registered under the Act. The expression "registered society" by definition under Section 2(h) means a Society either registered or deemed C to be registered under the Act. Section 3 of the Act specifies various classes of Societies which could be registered under the Act i.e. Societies which have for their object the promotion of education, literature, science, . religion, charity, social reform, art, crafts etc. Section 4(1) D mandates that Societies which came into existence after the commencement of the Act to be compulsorily registered. Section 4(2) mandates the registration of some Societies which were in existence as on the date of existence of the Act. It can be seen from the language of E Section 4(2) that only those existing Societies which were not registered either under the 1860 Act or under any other law which was in force in the State of Tamil Nadu prior to the 1975 Act to be compulsorily registered. Such obligation to compulsorily register (Societies) F arising either under Section 4(1) or Section 4(2) does not extend to Societies whose object is the promotion of religion. Because under Section 4(3), Societies established with the object of promoting either religion or athletics or sports, are expressly excluded from the G obligations even if they answer the description of a Society-referred to, either under Section 4(1) or 4(2). [Para 21] [542-C-G] 1.2. No doubt, Section 53 declares that every Society registered under the 1860 Act shall be deemed to be H 532 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014] 9 S.C.R. A registered under the 1975 Act. Such a construction is not called for in view of the scheme of the Act and more particularly scheme of Section 4 of the Act. Section 4(3) expressly excludes the operation of Section 4(1) and 4(2) thereby relieving both the classes of Societies-the B Societies formed after coming into the existence of the 1975 Act and the Societies which were in existence but • not registered under any law prior to the commencement of the 1975 Act - covered by Section 4(1) and 4(2) which have for their object the promotion of religion. The c expression "Societies" (registered under the 1860 Act) occurring in Section 53 must be understood to mean only those Societies which do not fall under the exemption granted under Section 4(3) of the Ac
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