Holding

The Supreme Court held that the dispute should be resolved by conducting fresh elections, abating all pending litigation, and limiting future jurisdiction to the Delhi High Court, rather than applying general law on meetings and injunctions to the IOA’s internal governance.

Summary

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA), a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, was embroiled in a leadership dispute when a faction of members requisitioned a special general meeting to move a no‑confidence motion against President B.S. Adityan and the Executive Council. The Executive Council declared the requisition invalid and convened its own meeting, leading to parallel meetings in Madras and New Delhi and subsequent injunctions by the Delhi High Court. The Madras High Court initially ruled in favour of Adityan, but the Full Bench remitted the matter and appointed a retired judge as interim President, a decision challenged before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court held that the internal governance issues of the IOA should not be decided by applying general law on meetings and injunctions, emphasizing the need to restore the sport body’s functioning through a fresh election. It ordered that all pending litigations be abated, appointed a retired Supreme Court judge to conduct secret‑ballot elections within two months, and directed that any further disputes be heard only by the Delhi High Court. Consequently, the appeals were disposed of and the IOA was directed to hold new elections to reconstitute its Executive Council.

Issues considered

The validity of a requisition for a special general meeting to consider a no‑confidence motion under the IOA’s rules.
Whether the Executive Council could overrule such a requisition in the absence of a specific provision for a no‑confidence vote.
The applicability of general law on meetings, injunctions, and elective office rights to the internal affairs of a registered society.
The appropriate jurisdiction for adjudicating disputes arising within the IOA.

Legislation cited

Constitution of Indias. 136
Societies Registration Act, 1860s. 3

Subjects

Indian Olympic AssociationSocieties Registration Actno‑confidence motionelection of office‑bearerssports governancejurisdiction of courtsfresh electioncourt intervention

Judgment

•
K. MURUGAN ETC. ETC.
A v •
FENCING' ASSN. OF INDIA; JABALPUR & ORS. ETC. ETC. ~

FEBRUARY 22, 1991

[RANGANATH MISRA, CJ, M.H. KANIA
AND KULDIP SINGH, JJ.)

Societies Registration Act, 1860-Section 3-Indian Olympic ~
,Association-Rules and regulations regarding election of President- '
Sports Association~Responsibility placed on society held not res-
C ponded. ·

Consitution of India, 1950-Article 136-Appeal against High .....
Court order-Indian Olympic Association-Election to office of Presi-
dent-Rule relating to meetings and rights appurtenant to elective
office-Inapplicability of.
D
The Indian Olympic Association was a society registered under
the Societies Registration Act, with the principal object to sponsor,
supervise, imance, regulate and control all aspects of sports activity in
relation to the Asian, Commonwealth, Olympic and International compe-.
. titions. The Society had a set of rules and regulations. There are five
E categories of members described in Rule 3. The management of the _...( •
affairs of the Association is entrusted to an Executive Council deimed in
Rule l(v). Rule 8 provided that the Executive Council shall have (i) a
President, (ii) 9 Vice Presidents, (iii) a Secretary-General, (iv) 6
Joint Secretaries, (v) a Treasurer and (vi) 19 Members. The term of -
the Executive Council was to be 4 years, while Rule 11 provides the
f voting procedure.

The Indian Olympic Association was reconstituted with effect from ~
28th of October, 1984, with the appellant in C.A. No. 852 of 1991, Shri ' -
V.C. Shukla as the President, K. Murugan, the appellant in C.A.
No. 848of1991 as one of the 6 Joint Secretaries.
G
In November, 1988, one of the Vice-President .of the 1984 Execu-
,tive Council, Shri B.S. Adityan, the appellant in C.A. No. 849/91 was
~lected as President for a term of four years.

On 16th of May, 1990, there was a requisition of 17 Members for
H a special general meeting for considering the move of a no confidence

658
K. MURUGAN v. FENCING ASSN. 659

~- motion against the aforesaid Shri 8.S. Adityan and his· Executive A
Council. This initiated a period of confrontation betwffn the two
groups in the Association.

In May 1990, the Executive Council overruled the aforesaid re-
quisition as invalid and President Adityan called a meeting of the Gen- B
eral Assembly at Madras for 15th of June, 1990. For the ~e day the
other group summoned a mffting at New Delhi. This aforesaid situation
______J....
led to Court proeffdings, and the Delhi High Court restrained the
requisitionists from holding their mffting at New Delhi and appointed a
retired Judge of the Delhi High Court as an observer for the meeting to

-
y.r be held at Madras. At this meeting Shri V.C. Shukla, the appellant in
C.A. No. 852/91 claimed to have been elected:
\
The matter was taken to Court ·and a Single Judge decided in
favour of Shri B.S. Adityan, the appellant in C.A. No. 849/91, but when
c

1 the matter came up before the Full Bench of the High Court, it remitted
the matter to a Single Judge who appointed a retired Judge of this D
Court to discharge the function of the President of the Association as an
interim measure. This Order has been challenged by the appellants in
Civil Appeals Nos. 852-853/91.

The Fencing Association of India filed- a civil suit at Jabalpur for
- ,>- the declaration that Shri V.C. Shukla had hffn duly elected. The appli-
E
cation for injunction from having bffn rejected by the Trial Judge, an
appeal had hffn taken to the High Court where the Single Judge
ordered status quo. Two Civil Appeals were also tiled against this
order.

It was contended on behalf of the appellants that under the rules
F
the term of the President and the Executive Council was four years and
~ in the absence of a clear provision for a vote of no confidence which
would curtail the period, there could be no reduction of the period of
office, and that the entire Executive Council could not be voted out of
office by a motion of no confidence.
G
Disposing oftbe appeals, this Court,
,--'?-< HELD: 1. Sports in modem times has been considered to be a
matter of great importance to the community. International sports ~
auumed greater importance and bas been in the focus for over a few
decades. [664D-E] H
660 SUPREME COURT REPORTS l 1991 l 1 S.C.R.

A 2. It is unfortunate that the highest body incharge of monitoring - ~-
all aspects of such sports has got involved in gr9UP fight leading to
litigation and the objectives of the 1.0.A. have been lost sight of. The
representation oflndia in the 1.0.A. has been in jeopardy. [664E-F]

3. The grooming of amateurs has been thrown to the winds and
B the responsibility placed on the Society has not been responded.
This, therefore, does not appear to be a situation where rights to office
will have to be worked out by referring to the provisions of the law
relating to meetings, injunction and rights appurtenant to elective
offices. [664F-G]

c 4. What seems to be of' paramount importance is that healthy
conditions must be restored as early as possible into the working of the
Society and a fresh election has to be held as that seems to be the only
~.

-
way to get out of the malady. [664G-H]

5. The entire nation is looking up to the results of the competi-
1

D tions at the international games when they are held. l.O.A. bas great ·
responsibilities to discharge in organising and streamlining the national
sport activities intended for international events. The monitoring has to
be a continuous one and unless the scheme is ongoing and is made
result-oriented, the international performance cannot be up to any
appreciable level. [664G-665B] ~ -
E
6. This does not appear to be a matter where individual rights
in terms of the rules and regulations of the Society should engage
attention. [664D-E]

7. It is appropriate that all the litigations now pending
F should abate, and for appropriate functioning of the Society the
litigation outside the headquarters of the Society should not be -~
permitted. [665B-C]

8. A fresh Executive Council should be set up and for that
purpose, elections should be held within two months hence; a retired
G . Judge of this Court is appointed to conduct the elections keeping the
provisions of the rules and regulations of the 1.0.A. in view. All the
proceedings in the different High Courts abate. [665C-D, G]

9. It is directed that the Union of India should take greater
interest in organising sports both for national and international
H purposes. Sports have a role to play iu building up good citizens. That
K. MURUGAN v. FENCING ASSN. [RANGANAlH MISRA, CJ.] 661

~ - aspect should be kept in view, while a lot of money is allotted for the A
purpose of improvement of sports, the result has been considerably
poor and deceptive. This aspect of the criticism hear from everywhere
in this country shall also be given due con~ideration. [666A-B]

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 848
of 1991 etc etc. B

From the Judgment and Order dated 14.12.1990 of Madhya
Pradesh High Court in M.A. No. 227of1990:

Kapil Sibal, H.N. Salve, J.B. Dadachanji, Mrs. A.K. Verma and S.K.
Mehta for the Appellants.

K.K. Venugopal, P. Chidambaram, S.S. Ray and P.P. Tripathi for tbe
c
Respondents.
/'-----Y-, '
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

RANGANATH MISRA, CJ. The Olympic games are ancient in D
origin. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica they commenced some
3,500 years ago and the name came from its association with the place
known as Olympia in Greece. These games were played once in every
four years and were abolished in 393 AD by the Roman Emperor
Theodosius-I. In recent times, they were revived in 1896 and have
until now been held at the turn of every four years excepting during the E
first and the second world wars. The Olympic games are one of the
biggest international events and provide great opportunities to
amateur sportsmen in the different classifications.

Indian participation in the Olympic games dates back to 1900
when a single representative had joined the Olympics at Paris. Gradu- F
ally, such participation became more. systematic and broad-based.
While the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of the Union Govern-
ment lcoks after development of sports within the country, the
management of the Olympic participation has been entrusted to a
society ~gistered under the Societies Registration Act (21 of 1860)
known by the name 'Indian Olympic Association' (for short 'IOA').

The Memorandum of Association of this society indicates that
the principal objects of the society, inter alia, are: (i) to develop and
promote the Olympic movement and amateur sport, (2) to promote
and encourage the physical, moral and cultural education of the youth
·of the nation for the development of character, good health and good H
66-2 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1991] 1 S.C.R.

citizenship, (3) to enforce all rules and regulations of the International
A Olympic Committee (hereinafter referred to as 'IOC') and tire IOA;
( 4) to be the official organisation in complete and sole charge of all
Olympic matters in the country, (5) to educate the public of the
country as to the value of amateurism in sports; (6) to maintain the
highest ideals of amateurism and to promote interest therein, particu-
B larly in connection with the Olympic games and other games under the
patronage of the IOC as well as the IOA, (7) to have full and complete
jurisdiction over all matters pertaining to the participation of India in
the Olympic games and other games under the patronage of the IOC

...
as well as the IOA, (8) to assist in cooperation with National Sports
Federations/Associations the selection, training and coaching of ihe
teams that will represent India in the Asian, Commonwealth, Olympic
..,.,.
. '
C and other international competitions and tournaments, under the
patronage of the IOC as well as IOA and also to supervise and control
the participation of the teams in the said competitions and tourna-
ments after selection, (9) to undertake with the assistance of National
Sports Federations/Associations the financing, management, trans-
D portation, maintenance and welfare of teams from India taking part in
the Olympic games and other games under the patronage of the IOC
as well as the IOA; and (10) to timulate the interest of the people of
the country in the promotion of sports and games in the Olympic prog-
ramme, and to that end the formation of State Olympic Assocation for
the development of sports and games within a State and National
E Sports Federations for games and sports in the Olympic programme.

We have quoted most of the important objectives to bring it to
the forefront that the 1.0.A. has been brought into existence to
sponsor, superv_ise, finance, regulate and control all aspects of sports
·--
activity in relation to the Asian, Commonwealth, Olympic and inter-
F national competitions and tournaments under the patronage of the
IOC. While its funding is partially out of membership fee, bulk of it
comes from Government contribution.

The society has a set of rules and regulations. There are five
categories of members as described in rule 3. The management of the
G affairs of the Association is entrusted to an Executive Council defined
in rule l(v). Rule 8 provides that the Executive Council shall have (i) a
President (ii) 9 Vice-Presidents (iii) a Secretary-General (iv) 6 Joint y"-
Secretaries (v) a Treasurer (vi) 7 Members elected from among
representatives of State Olympic Associations and (vii) 12 members
elected from among the representatives.of National Sports Federation/
H Associations/SSCB. Rule 8 provides the manner of elections to be held
K. MURUGAN v. FENCING ASSN. [RANGANATH MISRA, CJ.) 663

for theR.Executive Council. The term of the Executive Council is 4 A ,
years. ule 11 provides the voting procedure. Clause (b) of that rule
requires that voting if necessary in the IOA Executive Council, IOA
Emergency Executive Council and/or at the annual general or special
general meetings of the IOA shall be by show of hand. However, if in a
particular case the procedure has to be changed, the same will be done
by a resolution of the concerned body passed by majority vote. The B
very rule provides as to the voting power of the different units composT
ingtheIOA.

Rule 12 deals with the office-bearers like the President, the Vice-

- President, the Secretary-General, the Joint Secretaries, the Treasurer
etc. For the resolution of the dispute before us perhaps reference to C
the other rules is not necessary .
.?--.,.!
rI The IOA was reconstituted with effect from 28th of October,
1984, with appellant Shri V.C. Shukla as the President. K. Murugan,
appellant in C.A. No. 848 of 1991 (arising out of SLP 1064/91) was one
of the 6 Joint Secretaries. D

In November, 1988, Shri B.S. Adityan, one of the vice-Presi-
dents of the 1984 Executive Council was elected as President for a term '
of four years. On 16th of May, 1990, there was a requisition of 17
Members for a special general meeting for considering the move of a
no confidence motion against Shri Adityan and his Executive Council. E
With this started a period of confrontation between the two groups in ,
the Association. In May, 1990, the Executive Council overruled the
requisition as invalid and President Adityan called a meeting of the
General Assembly at Madras for 15th of June, 1990. For the same day
the other group summoned a meeting of the general assembly at New
Delhi. This led to Court proceeding and the Delhi High Court F
restrained the requisitionists from holding their meeting at New Delhi
and appoirited a retired Judge of the Delhi High Court as an observer
for the meeting to be held at Madras. In the convened meeting of 15th of
June, minutes of the proceedings whereof have been seriously dis-
puted Shri Shukla claimed to have been elected.
G
A little before the meeting of the 15th of June at Madras, further
proceedings were taken in Court which have been labelled as collusive
and manipulations for obtaining an order for the manner of voting.
The warring factions lost sight of the laudable goals of the IOA and the
purpose for which the Association had been set up and put theiI entire
,. attention on winning control over the affairs of the IOA in their grip H
through litigation.
664 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1991] 1 S.C.R.

A Single Judge of the Madras High Court having decided in
A favour of Shri Adityan, the matter ultimately came before a Full
Bench which by its order dated 3rd of January, 1991, remitted the
matter to the learned Single Judge and appointed Justice Natarajan, a
retired Judge of this Court, to discharge the functions of the President
of the IOA as an interim measure. This order is challenged in the
B appeal by Shri Murugan and Shri V.C. Shukla by two different appeals
being Civil Appeals Nos. 852.853of1991 (arising SLPs 1599 and 1787/91).
Not content with the litigation in the Delhi and Madras High Courts,
the Fencing Association of India filed a civilsuit at Jabalpur asking for
declaration that Shri Shukla had been duly elected as President. An

c
application for injunction in support of Shri Shukla having been
rejected by the trial Judge an appeal had been taken before the High
Court where a learned Single Judge made a status quo order. The
other two appeals arise out of proceedings including contempt taken
-
therein.

Long arguments have been advanced before us by Mr. Venu-
D gopal for Shri Adityan and by Mr. Sibal for Shri Shukla. The main
contention of Mr. Venugopal is that under the rules the term of the
President and the Executive Council is four years and in the absence of
a clear provision for a vote of no confidence, which would curtail the
period, there could be no reduction of the period of office. It has also
been contended that the entire Executive Council could not be voted'
E out of office by a motion of no confidence and, therefore, Shri Adityan
had rightly overruled the requisition. Serious challenge has been
advanced by Mr. Sibal against the proceedings taken before the
.. Madras High Court and particularly, the learned Judge making an
-
order changing the manner of voting from show of hands to one by
ballot in what is stated to be a collusive proceeding.
F
This does not appear to us to be a matter where individual rights
in terms of the rules and regulations of the Society should engage our
attention. Sports in modern times has been considered to be a matter of
great importance to the community. International sports has assumed
greater importance and has been in the focus for over a few decades.
G In some of the recent Olympic games the performance of small States
has indeed been excellent and laudable while the performance of a
great country like India with world's second highest population has
been miserable. It is unfortunate that the highest body in charge of
monitoring all aspects of such sports has· got involved in group fight
leading to litigation and the objectives of the Society have been lost
H sight of. The representation of India in the IOA has been in jeopardy.
K. MURUGAN v. FENCING ASSN. [RANGANATH MISRA, CJ.] 065

'---;---- The grooming of amateurs has been thrown to the winds and the A
responsibility placed on the Society has not been responded. This,
therefore, does not appear to us to be a situation where rights to office
• will have to be worked out by refeiring to the provisions of the law
relating to meetings, injunction and rights appurtenant to elective
offices. What seems to be of paramount importance is that healthy
conditions must be restored as early as possible into the working of the B
Society and a fresh election has to be held as that seems to be the only
----~-- way to get out of the malady. The entire nation is looking up to~the
results of the competitions at the international gaJ;IIes when they are
held. As we have already pointed out, IOA has great responsibilities

.... ~ to discharge in organising and streamlining the national sport activities
intended for international events. The monitoring has to be a continu-
ou:s one and unless the scheme is ongoing and is made result-oriented, c
the international pedormance cannot be up to any appreciable level.
/""'-.,,/
)

The question for consideration, therefore, is not as to which of
the two factions should succeed. On the other hand, it is appropriate
D
that all the litigations now pending should abate. In the interest of the
appropriate functioning of the Society the litigation outside the head-
guarters of the Society should not be permitted. We accordingly direct
that any litigation, if at all, should only be within the jurisdiction of the
~- Delhi High Court and no Court in India would entertain litigations
relating to the functioning of IOA in any aspect. A fresh executive
Council should be set up and for that purpose elections should be held E
within two months hence. The general assembly should be convened to
=- meet at Calcutta on 28th of April, 1991. We appoint Mr. Justice A.O.
Koshal, a retired Judge of this Court to conduct the elections keeping
the provisions of the rules and regulations of the IOA in view. Voting
shall be by secret ballot. The list of voters should be finally settled
~, within four weeks from now and if it is necessary to have any hearing in F
the matter we authorise such hearing to be undertaken by Mr. Justice
Koshal. Until then, Mr: Justice Natarajan will continue to exercise his
powers as conferred by the order of the Madras High Court. Once the
results of the elections are announced, Mr. Justice Natarajan would
cease to be in office and the Association would take over.
G
rx To enable Mr. Justice Koshal to discharge the obligations cast
upon him by this decision, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is
directed to place at his disposal a sum of Rs.25,000 (Twentyfive
thousand) within two weeks and a small group of assistants as he may
need. Payment of remuneration for the work done shall be fixed by the
Court later. H
666 SUPREME COURT. REPORTS (1991] 1 S.C.R.

A All the proceedings in the different High Courts abate; the suit
in the Jabalpur High Court shall stand dismissed. The contempt pro-
ceedings now pending shall not be proceeded with.

In the course of arguments some criticism was advanced against
B the order of the High Court providing monthly remuneration to Mr.
Justice Natarajan. We leave this aspect to be considered by Mr. Justice
Natarajan himself and do not propose to deal with it in our order.

Before we leave this matter we would like to point that the ·
Union of India should take greater interest in organising sports both ..,, .
c for national and international purposes. Sports have a role to play in .
building up good citizens. That aspect should be kept in view. We have
a feeling that while a lot of money is allotted for the purpose of
improvement of sports, the result has been considerably poor and
-
deceptive. We hope and trust that this aspect of the criticism heard
from everywhere in this country shall also be given due consideration. :
D
V.P.R. Appeals disposed of. :