LexSHRI RAM CHANDRA MISSION & ANR. versus P. RAJAGOPALACHARI & ORS.
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A B [2008] 7 S.C.R. 194 SHRI RAM CHANDRA MISSION & ANR. v. P. RAJAGOPALACHARI & ORS. (Civil Appeal No. 6619 of 2000) APRIL 29, 2008 (DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT & TARUN CHATTERJEE, JJ.) Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 - Suit - Withdrawal of suit - Effect of - On facts, disputes pertaining to spiritual heirship c to control affairs of Mission - Suit by members of religious society seeking injunction restraining P from acting as President - Ex parte injunction - Set aside by High Court - Upheld by this Court- Subsequently suit withdrawn with liberty to file fresh suit- On appeal, held: Effect and relevance of any 0 proceeding having attained finality to be duly considered in pending suit - Earlier suit having direct effect was withdrawn, its effect is to be considered - Pending suit to be decided within six months - Parties at liberty to move for interim protection as and when circumstances warrant. E ' K. Sivaramaiah v. Rukmani Ammal (2004) 1 SCC 471 - referred to. CIVILAPPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 6619 of 2000. F From the final Judgment and Order dated 24.11.1998 of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad in Special Appeal No. 580 of 1997. Vinod A. Bobde, 8. Vijayalakshmi Menon, Puneet Saxena, D. Ramakrishnan Reddy, Ch. I. Sarveswar and Ekta Kapil for G the Appellants. H Dipankar P. Gupta, Dinesh Owivedi, V. Shekhar, Pradeep S. Baghel, Abhay S. Kushwaha, V.P. Singh, Shrish Kumar Misra, A.K. Mishra, Ashok K. Srivastava, Kamlendra Mishra and Rajeev 194 SHRI RAM CHANDRA MISSION & ANR. v. P. 195 RAJAGOPALACHARI & ORS. [DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT, J.) '- Dubey for the Respondents. A The Judgment of the Court was delivered by DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT, J. 1. Challenge in this appeal is to the judgment of a Division Bench of the Allahabad High Court. By a common judgment several civil appeals were heard B together and disposed of. A common link in all these appeals was the decision of a religious cum Philanthropic Society named Sh. Ram Chandra Mission. It was established by a late Sh. Ram Chandra Ji Maharajan and on his death disputes arose. The disputes essentially relate to spiritual heirship to control the c affairs of the mission. Series of litigation was resulted and the four special leaves before the High Court were summed up and by the impugned order the High Court held that all the four appeals were to be dismissed. Before the Division Bench orders of learned Single Judge were challenged. The relief D sought for were categorized under five heads. 1. Grant of letters of administration in favour of Sri U.C. Saxena in respect of the properties of Sri Ram Chandra Mission through out India and abroad. 2. Declaration that Sri Umesh Chandra Saxena was E the President of the Mission and the second petitioner was the Secretary thereof. 3. An interim grant during pendency of the application. 4. In the alternative appointment of a receiver in respect F of the entire estate of deceased Sr. Ram Chandra Mission, and 5. Any other relief. 2. The special leaves were filed by Umesh Chandra G Saxena and others, Uma Shankar and Another, the present ' ~ appellants and another. Special leave by the Umesh Chandra Saxena and Anr. Sri. P. Rajagopalichari were the respondent while in the first special leave by Umesh Chandra Saxena and Anr. The Administrative General, U.P. Allahabad and others were H 196'' SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2008) 7 S.C.R. A the parties. 3. Background facts as highlighted by the appellant in this appeal are as follows: Sh. Ram Chandra Mission-Society was registered, B established and founded by Maharaj, Shri Ram Chandra Ji Maharaj with its constitution, bye laws and Memorandum of Society on 21.7.1995. Purportedly there was a covering letter to the intimation dated 23.3.197 4 alleged to have been executed by the founder in favour of respondent P. Rajagopalachari. This c intimation according to the appellant was the result of manipulation and fraud. The nomination was declared him to be the president of society and clearly stated that he shall work for the Mission and he is "President of Sahaj Marga System". On 16.4.1982 nomination was executed in favour of Shri Umesh 0 Chandra Saxena as spiritual representative in the direct line of succession and he was nominated as the successor or President under Rules 3 and 4 of the registered constitution, bye laws of the society. The nomination/declaration clearly stated that the previous nomin
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