In a writ petition challenging removal as a trustee of the SBF Trust, the Court held that Clause 4.2 of the Trust Deed grants the Chairman plenary power to remove a trustee via 7-day notice, provided no other clause is violated, and dismissed the challenge.
Writ petition impugning removal as trustee was dismissed.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
*** IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI**
% 9th November, 2016
MUKUL KUMAR
..... Petitioner
Through: Mr. Anupam Lal Das and Mr. Sahil Monga, Advocates.
versus
INDIAN OIL CORPORATION LTD. & ANR. ..... Respondents Through: Mr. V.N.Kaura and Mr. P.K.Benipal, Advovcates.
CORAM:
HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE VALMIKI J.MEHTA
To be referred to the Reporter or not?
VALMIKI J. MEHTA, J (ORAL)
the respondent no.1/Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. removing the petitioner as a trustee of the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. Employees Superannuation Benefit Fund ( SBF) Trust.
in writing to the trustee. This Clause 4.2 reads as under:-
“4.2 The power of appointing the Trustees shall be vested in the Chairman of IOC, who shall make such appointments in writing. The Trustees from the
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W.P.(C) No.5027/2016
officer employees and unionized employees shall be appointed in consultation with Officers Association/Union. Chairman of IOC shall appoint as Trustee only persons who are in its employment in India. Chairman of IOC shall also have power to fill up at any time any vacancy in the number of Trustees and to remove a Trustee by giving seven days notice in writing to the Trustee at his last known address and to the continuing Trustees.
Chairman of IOC shall be under no obligation to fill the vacancy occasioned in respect of any trustees so removed or any other vacancy in the number of Trustees until he shall think fit and so long as the number of Trustees shall not be less than two and pending the filling in of any vacancy, the continuing Trustees shall have power to act. A member of the Scheme can be appointed a Trustee of the Scheme. Chairman of IOC shall nominate one of the Trustees to be the Chairman of the Trustees. Chairman of IOC shall also nominate a Trustee to be an alternate Chairman who shall act in the absence of the Chairman of the Trustees and shall exercise all the power of the Chairman.” (underlining added)
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“The Trustees shall be resident in India. The Office of a Trustee shall be vacated if the Trustee ceases to be in the service of the Company or if he shall permanently leave India or if for reasons or illness or infirmity or mental incapacity he shall, in the opinion of the Chairman of IOC become incompetent or incapable to act.”
Clause 4.4 is not an exhaustive clause containing all the reasons for non appointment of a trustee or for removal of a trustee, because, the relevant language of Clause 4.2 makes it clear that there is no restriction on powers of the Chairman of respondent no.1 to remove a trustee, of course as already stated above subject to there not being any other clause disqualifying the exercise of powers by the Chairman of respondent no.1, and which is not pointed out to exist in the present case.
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found in Clause 4.2 is that when a trustee is appointed (as against removal of the trustee) the officers and employees of respondent no.1 will be consulted along with the association/union of such employees. The present is not a case with respect to appointment but of removal of the petitioner, and therefore, it cannot be argued that the petitioner is sole repository of the interest of the employees and whose interest would not be watched if the petitioner is removed as a trustee of the trust inasmuch as it is relevant to note in this regard that as per Clause 4.2 the only requirement of the existence of trustees is that there should be not less than two trustees for the trust to function and it not the case of the petitioner that number of trustees are less than two on the removal of the petitioner. In fact, even after the removal of the petitioner by the impugned Letter dated 2.5.2016, there would be about 7/8 other trustees to manage the trust.
7. Dismissed.
NOVEMBER 09, 2016 ib
VALMIKI J. MEHTA, J
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W.P.(C) No.5027/2016
1 issue framed by the court
Whether the power of the Chairman of IOC under Clause 4.2 of the Trust Deed to remove a trustee by a 7-day notice is justiciable and violative of mandatory clauses in the Trust Deed.
1 provisions across 1 enactments
Mukul Kumar
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.
Valmikij M Mehta
As recorded by the court registry
A petition under Article 226 of the Constitution asking a High Court to issue a writ against the State or a public authority in a civil matter.
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
