Mumbai, May 22: The Bombay High Court on Friday stayed the order of the City Civil Court, which had stayed the expulsion of former president Gurbir Singh from the Mumbai Press Club.
HC grants interim stay
Vacation Judge Justice Gautam Ankhad granted an interim stay on the order of the City Civil Court, noting that it did not provide sufficient reasoning.
This means the status quo ante has been restored for the time being, and Singh’s expulsion stands restored. The High Court has kept the matter for hearing on June 15.
The HC was hearing an appeal filed by the Mumbai Press Club against an ad-interim order granted in favour of journalist Gurbir Singh. The club was represented by senior advocate Girish Godbole and advocate Abhishek Salian.
Expulsion linked to Bhima Koregaon accused meeting
The club’s Managing Committee (MC) had expelled Singh, a former president of the club, for allegedly holding a dinner meeting on the club terrace on January 19, 2026, with certain persons accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon case.
On May 7, the Mumbai City Civil Court stayed Singh’s expulsion from the club and permitted him to contest the upcoming elections. Challenging the order, the club sought a stay on its “effect, operation, implementation and execution”.
It also sought to restrain Singh from contesting elections, voting, participating in the elections or exercising any membership rights in the club on the basis of the May 7 order.
A show-cause notice was issued to Singh on February 22, and the resolution expelling him was passed on April 27.
The club maintained that the accused persons were on bail and that one of the bail conditions was that they would not interact with each other. The MC contended that by holding a meeting with the accused persons, the reputation of the club had been damaged.
Singh alleges political motive
The MC ordered an internal inquiry against Singh and two others, and the findings went against them.
However, Singh contended that the club itself had, on two earlier occasions, hosted some of the accused persons. He said he was not aware of the bail conditions imposed on them.
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In any case, Singh maintained that the club was an open platform where all views could be discussed in a democratic spirit. He further alleged that he was being expelled with a view to preventing him from contesting the upcoming club elections.
Singh challenged his expulsion before the Mumbai City Civil Court, which stayed the expulsion and allowed him to contest the elections.
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