Mumbai, April 17: The Bombay High Court is set to decide the fate of over 1,464 individuals inducted as members of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai after its elections were announced in October 2025, with the court on Friday reserving its order in a batch of petitions challenging the Charity Commissioner’s intervention.
On Friday, Justice Farhan Dubash was hearing a plea filed by senior journalist and former Rajya Sabha MP Kumar Ketkar and others, who have contested the March 11 order of the Charity Commissioner staying the elections on the eve of polling.
State defends cut-off date for voters’ list
During the hearing, Advocate General Milind Sathe argued that the March 2026 polls were not fresh elections but a continuation of the process initiated in October 2025, which had been stalled earlier.
He submitted that the Charity Commissioner was justified in fixing October 3, 2025, as the cut-off date for the voters’ list, as 1,464 members were added after the elections were first announced.
Sathe contended that the inclusion of new members after the election process had begun was irregular. “These members could not have been inducted in the absence of a managing committee,” he argued, adding that the ad hoc committees appointed by the Charity Commissioner to finalise the voters’ list and oversee daily affairs had no authority to continue indefinitely.
Court observations on managing committee and eligibility
The court appeared inclined to accept this line of reasoning. Justice Dubash observed that in the absence of a duly constituted managing committee, it was unclear who would assess the eligibility of newly added members. The bench also orally indicated that it may consider October 3 as the appropriate cut-off date.
Background of dispute and earlier court orders
The dispute has its roots in the Charity Commissioner’s last-minute order on March 11, which halted elections scheduled for March 14 and directed the formation of committees to verify the voters’ list.
The move followed an inspector’s inquiry that flagged “serious lapses” in the functioning of the society, including the alleged disappearance of 2,050 rare books from its collection.
On March 14, a separate bench of the High Court refused to interfere with the stay, noting that “no fault can be found” with the timing of the order and that “there are serious lapses in the functioning of the society prima facie at least.” It also observed that no valid election programme for March 14 had been produced.
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However, on April 8, Justice Dubash granted interim relief, staying the implementation of the Charity Commissioner’s directive on the ground that it appeared to violate principles of natural justice, as it was passed without prior notice to the society.
Historic institution at centre of legal battle
Established in 1804 by Sir James Mackintosh, the Asiatic Society is one of Mumbai’s oldest cultural and research institutions.
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