A Patiala House Court has recently refused to grant interim relief in a suit filed by a former president of the Union Academy, Delhi, which runs a Delhi govt-aided senior secondary school in Gole Market area of the city, who had sought a stay on the academy’s election conducted on July 26, 2025, and restraining other office-bearers from acts undermining the current governing body.
JSCC-ASCJ Vinod Joshi ruled against the plaintiff, Ranajit Chatterjee, since he had failed to establish a prima facie case. The application was dismissed under Order 39 Rules 1 & 2 CPC by the Court without going into the merits of the suit.
Chatterjee had through his counsel Ranadip Basu challenged the notice convening the 39th Annual General Meeting (AGM) on July 26, 2025 for election of a new governing body, alleging procedural irregularities under the Academy’s Memorandum & Articles (MoA) and Rules (Schedule II, rules 1(b)(i) & 13).
He said no resolution had been passed by existing governing body whose tenure (2021–2022 to 2024) expired without lawful extension. He had also said new primary members were inducted on 12.04.2025, but their confirmation and meeting minutes (24.05.2025, 05.07.2025) remained unconfirmed due to disorderly conduct.
The defendants, Academy Secretary Subrata Banerjee, Treasurer Ashok Kumar Nanda, Member Tapan Roy, who were represented by Advocate Upender Thakur, contended that the AGM had been necessitated because the two-year tenure of the old governing body had already lapsed.
They said no AGM had been held during Chatterjee’s term, leading to a lack of transparency. They also charged Chatterjee of financial irregularities during his tenure as president such as illegal collection of donations without receipts.
Further, they said Ranajit Chatterjee had attended and participated in meetings on 24.05.2025 and 05.07.2025, undermining his clean-hands claim.
The Union Academy had been a notable school during the British Raj with a focus on Bengal and taught Bengali. It was founded in 1887 at Shimla as the Bengalee Boys High School, and then moved to Delhi’s Raja Bazaar in 1934 by the Viceroy’s Executive Council, and has been in operation since 1939. It now operates as a 95 per cent Delhi government-aided school.