Dismissing a plea seeking a direction that the General Council Meeting of SBI Officers Association be conducted before elections this year, the Delhi High Court has said that remedy under Article 226 of the Constitution can only be invoked to enforce a legal right.
Justice Vibhu Bakhru said the petitioners, who are officials of SBI Ltd and members of the association, have no legal right to demand the meeting.
Article 226 empowers high courts to issue directions to any person or authority, including the government over the violation of legal or fundamental rights
"It is well settled that remedy under Article 226 of the Constitution of India can only be invoked to enforce a legal right. In this case, this Court is unable to accept that the petitioner has any legal right to demand that the General Council Meeting be held prior to the elections," the high court said in a recent order.
The observation came while hearing a plea by filed by officials of State Bank of India Limited praying that appropriate directions be issued to the respondents to conduct the meeting before the elections this year.
The petitioners claimed that the eighth Triennial General Meeting of SBI Officers Association took place on March 12, 2016 and the elections of the office bearers was held in July, 2016.
They claimed that both, the General Council Meeting as well as the elections, are to be held once in three years and said that it has not been held since March 2016 and they are also aggrieved by the fact that SBI Officers Association is proposing to hold the elections within next three months.
The counsel appearing for the respondents told the high court that in normal case the meeting would have been held but there were some disruptions during the February to July, 2019 as officers of the association were on general election duty.
The lawyer also said that they are in the process of holding a General Council Meeting as well as the elections.
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