A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court has upheld a single judge’s verdict setting aside a government order superseding the previous managing committee of the Kerala Branch of the Indian Red Cross Society and its Kollam, Alappuzha, Kottayam, and Thiruvananthapuram district committees and appointing administrators in its places. The Bench passed its judgment while dismissing an appeal filed by the State government.
The single judge’s order came on a writ petition filed by former chairman Sunil C. Kurian.
The State government had superseded the former committee headed by Mr. Kurian on the basis of a Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) report submitted after conducting a quick verification on a complaint of C. Bhaskaran, a former member. He alleged that Mr. Kurian and other office-bearers had indulged in financial irregularities. The complaint was forwarded to the government by the Governor who is the ex-officio president of the State branch of the society.
The single judge had observed that there was no provision in the Indian Red Cross Society Act or the Rules conferring any power on the State government to supersede the State and district branches of the society. Only the Indian President, who is the president of the society, had the power to supersede the State and district branches of the society.
The Governor could not exercise the power in the absence of any power having been conferred on the ex-officio president of the State Branch.
