The Hindu : Kerala News : Meet to explain order on Samastha panel

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Friday, Sep 03, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Meet to explain order on Samastha panel

By Our Staff Reporter

KOZHIKODE, SEPT. 2. The Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama will hold a public meeting at the Muthalakulam maidan here on Friday to explain to the Muslim community the verdict of the Supreme Court in the case relating to accepting the list of the governing body members of the society submitted to the District Registrar.

The Samastha vice-president, Panakkad Syed Ummer Ali Shihab Thangal, and the general secretary, Cherussery Sainudeen Musaliar, told presspersons here today that the Supreme Court while upholding the verdict of the Division Bench of the High Court had quashed the civil appeal filed by the Sunni faction leader, Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobaker Musaliar.

The controversy relates to accepting a list of the governing body members of the society filed by the late general secretary of Samastha, E.K. Aboobaker Musaliar for 1990-91. However, Kanathapuram A.P. Aboobaker Musaliar filed a list of governing body members at the same time. But the District Registrar passed an order on March 22, 1990 accepting the list submitted by E.K. Aboobaker Musaliar.

Writ petition

Mr. Kanthapuram filed a writ petition against the order of the District Registrar at the High Court of Kerala. While approving the writ petition, the Single Bench judge quashed the order of the District Registrar taking a view that he had no such power of deciding on a dispute between the parties under Section 4 of the Societies Registration Act.

However, a Division Bench of the High Court did not agree with the order and held that the order passed by the District Registrar accepting the list of the governing body members given by E.K. Aboobaker Musaliar was correct. The District Registrar could prima facie accept a list without adjudicating upon the dispute between the parties in a case where more than one list was filed for the members of the governing body, the Division Bench said.

Later, A.P. Aboobaker appealed against the High Court Division Bench order before the Supreme Court. But the Supreme Court also ruled that when there were two lists the District Registrar could accept prima facie one list after being satisfied with it. The Registrar had accepted the list submitted by E.K.Aboobaker as he was filing the lists for the previous years also, the Supreme Court observed.

The Samastha had its genesis as an unregistered organisation of Muslim religious pundits in 1925 for the purpose of dissemination of religious teachings to the Sunni Muslims in Kerala.

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