Statutory deeming registration under a society law requires election and defunct-status disputes to follow the prescribed remedies.

A society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 was held to be deemed registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975 by virtue of the statutory fiction in Section 53, and the consequences of that enactment had to follow. Disputes on cancellation, winding up, or defunct status had to be pursued under the statutory scheme, so the High Court could not in a pending suit set aside the society's elections or appoint an administrator without recourse to the proper forum and without all elected office-bearers before it. No infringement of Articles 25 and 26 was made out on the facts pleaded.

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Issues: (i) Whether a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 was deemed to be registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975 by virtue of the statutory fiction in Section 53; (ii) whether the High Court, in the pending suit, could set aside the elections of the society on the footing that the society had become defunct and appoint an administrator instead of relegating the parties to the statutory remedies; (iii) whether the impugned orders infringed the appellants' rights under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution of India.

Issue (i): Whether a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 was deemed to be registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975 by virtue of the statutory fiction in Section 53.

Analysis: Section 53 created a deeming fiction in favour of societies already registered under the 1860 Act. A legal fiction must be given full effect. Once the society stood registered under the 1860 Act, it was to be treated as registered under the 1975 Act, and the consequences under that enactment had to follow. The 1975 Act was treated as a complete code for cancellation, winding up, and removal of defunct societies, but non-compliance with certain statutory requirements did not by itself justify treating the society as non-existent for all purposes.

Conclusion: The society was deemed to be registered under the 1975 Act.

Issue (ii): Whether the High Court, in the pending suit, could set aside the elections of the society on the footing that the society had become defunct and appoint an administrator instead of relegating the parties to the statutory remedies.

Analysis: The High Court set aside the elections without properly considering the scheme of the 1975 Act. Questions relating to cancellation of registration, winding up, or treatment of a society as defunct had to be dealt with by the statutory authorities under the Act and the Rules. A valid election could not be nullified in the suit merely because the society was alleged to be defunct or because statutory formalities were said to be incomplete. The members who were elected were also not all before the High Court, and the dispute regarding validity of the election had to be agitated before the proper forum with the elected office-bearers impleaded.

Conclusion: The High Court could not set aside the elections in the suit, and the parties had to be relegated to the appropriate statutory forum.

Issue (iii): Whether the impugned orders infringed the appellants' rights under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution of India.

Analysis: The appellants had not laid the necessary foundational facts showing how their constitutional rights were violated, and the precise religious activities said to attract those provisions were not established. The right to manage does not include a right to mismanage, and the Court may oversee charitable institutions in the public interest. Rights under Articles 25 and 26 are not absolute and remain subject to lawful regulation.

Conclusion: No infringement of Articles 25 and 26 was made out on the facts pleaded before the Court.

Final Conclusion: The impugned orders could not stand insofar as they nullified the elections and displaced the elected office-bearers without recourse to the statutory mechanism, and the elected members were permitted to carry on the society's activities subject to lawful control and further orders by competent authority or court.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a society is statutorily deemed to be registered under a complete regulatory enactment, disputes about its elections, defunct status, or cancellation of registration must be addressed through the statutory remedies and a court in a collateral proceeding cannot nullify a valid election without the elected office-bearers being before it.

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