LGC thwarts coup bid as SDM court junks no-confidence motion against mgmt panel

LUCKNOW: The turf war that began with a controversial dinner at a prominent city hotel leading to a no-confidence motion against the club’s management committee apparently ended with the SDM court terming it invalid.
In its order, the court observed that there were procedural anomalies in passing the no-confidence motion.
Secretary of Lucknow Golf Club (LGC) Sandeep Das hoped that “good sense prevails” in future.“Only a certain section was hellbent on pushing the club through unnecessary litigation,” he said.
LGC joint secretary cum treasurer Labir Singh Bisht, who was pursuing the matter, said that the court ruled that the management committee formed on October 10, 2021 will prevail. “Finally, the actual club management committee will be able to carry out all activities and will be able to make decisions”, he said.
The matter had hit the headlines when an annual general meeting (AGM) called on September 25, 2022 after the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) had turned into a shocker for LGC members, with two groups clashing and club president Mukul Singhal walking out after a dispute over passing the club’s accounts. Moreover, a no-confidence motion was moved against the club management committee. Thereafter, an interim committee was formed with a ‘decision’ to hold fresh elections on October 23.
The club committee members, however, had termed it as “an attempt at arm-twisting”. They had revealed that “the whole drama was staged a day earlier at a prominent hotel when a member threw a dinner for some members and made them sign up for the no-confidence motion”. Thereafter, the LGC through its secretary Sandeep Das had filed a petition with the high court.
The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court had in its order directed that Mukul Singhal and Sandeep Das would continue as president and secretary respectively till a disposal of a reference is sent by the deputy registrar of societies to the prescribed authority. The court had also directed the district magistrate, Lucknow to appoint a prescribed authority to decide on the matter.
After hearing the matter, the SDM court observed that there was no clear provision for a no-confidence motion in the club bylaws. Moreover, the procedure followed to pass the motion was also wrong. The court therefore ruled that only the club management committee formed on October 10, 2021 was maintainable.