Bombay High Court Dismisses Petition of Eight Asiatic Society Members Seeking to Vote
On July 2, 2026, the Bombay High Court in Mumbai dismissed a petition filed by eight members of the Asiatic Society who challenged their exclusion from the voters' list for the Society's upcoming managing committee elections. Justice N.J. Jamadar rejected the plea, meaning the members will remain unable to vote in the elections scheduled for July 4, 2026.
The petitioners, led by trade union leader Vivek Monteiro, had challenged a communication that rejected their objections to the draft voters' list.
Senior Advocate J.P. Sen, representing the petitioners, argued that the Charity Commissioner had recognized his clients as valid members of the Society. He questioned why they were being denied the right to vote on the grounds of incomplete membership applications.
"Having accepted me as a member, what is the reason for not letting me vote? If the application form was incomplete, then I was not a member. But that is not the case," Sen submitted to the court.
Additional Government Pleader Jyoti Chavan opposed the petition. She raised a preliminary objection, stating that the issue had already been decided in previous litigation. Chavan argued that the managing committee had continued beyond its legal tenure and could not admit new members after the election process had commenced.
Counsel for the Asiatic Society also argued that applications received after the September 27, 2025 cut-off date were ineligible for the electoral roll prepared for the 2025 election process. The court was informed that one petitioner had applied for membership on October 2, 2025.
In the ruling, Justice Jamadar noted that the petitioners sought inclusion in the voters' list despite applying after the cut-off date fixed by the Charity Commissioner. "Thus, at this stage, no case is made out for entertaining the petition. Petition is dismissed," Justice Jamadar held.
This ruling marks the third petition related to the Asiatic Society election dispute that the High Court has dismissed. Previously, the court upheld the Charity Commissioner's March orders, which superseded the Society's managing and scrutinising committees and appointed an ad hoc committee to oversee fresh elections.
