Overview
- Justice Farhan P. Dubash’s interim order, issued Wednesday, stays the March 13 directive and gives the State until April 16 to file a reply.
- The Charity Commissioner had halted the March 14 vote, ordered a fresh voters’ list through sub-committees, and installed an observer with a five-member panel to run daily affairs.
- The judge said the order appeared to breach natural justice because the Society got no prior notice and was not shown the inspector’s report that drove the decision.
- A different bench on March 14 declined to intervene after hearing that 2,050 rare books were reported missing and that serious lapses were seen in the Society’s functioning.
- The deferred election would fill 19 managing-committee seats contested by panels led by Kumar Ketkar and former BJP MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, a result that could shape control of the historic library and its care.