The Delhi Excessive Court docket held on Friday that the Delhi Gymkhana Membership issuing inexperienced playing cards to people who had crossed the age of 21 was “with out authorized foundation”.
The courtroom of Justice Sanjeev Narula was listening to a bunch of petitions filed by dependents of the prevailing membership members who had utilized for inexperienced card membership after the age of 21 resulting from varied circumstances, together with causes comparable to their mother and father being overseas.
Inexperienced playing cards, akin to a licence to make use of the membership amenities, are allotted to dependents of everlasting members of the Delhi Gymkhana Membership on turning 21. In March 2022, the membership had terminated inexperienced playing cards of a number of people, forcing them to maneuver courtroom.
The petitioners had contended that Articles of Affiliation (AoA) of the membership “doesn’t prescribe a strict deadline for submitting membership purposes” and denying them the advantage of inexperienced card holder standing merely resulting from timing points “could be unreasonable.” The membership had contended that “inexperienced card holders don’t qualify as members of the membership”.
Justice Narula, nevertheless, held: “Prima facie, the issuance of inexperienced playing cards is in clear violation of the membership’s AoA, missing formal authorisation or recognition inside its governing framework.”
“The plaintiffs’ reliance on historic practices and casual insurance policies can’t substitute for compliance with the AoA, which unambiguously requires dependents to use for full membership upon reaching the age of 21. A system that circumvents this course of, nevertheless longstanding, stays past the bounds of the membership’s constitutional framework,” the courtroom stated.
It added, “The (membership) administrator’s actions, together with the suspension and termination of the plaintiffs’ inexperienced card privileges… had been a part of a vital initiative to handle systemic mismanagement and convey the membership’s operations in keeping with its foundational paperwork… The corrective measures weren’t punitive however remedial… designed to eradicate irregularities, restore institutional integrity, and guarantee compliance with the AoA.”
