Apex body of YMCAs in India moves HC against appointment of observer for its polls

The apex body of the Young Men's Christian Associations (YMCA) in India today challenged in the Delhi High Court its single judge's interim order appointing an independent observer to supervise and conduct the polls for elected posts in its national executive, saying the decision was erroneous.

The plea by the National Council of Young Men's Christian Associations of India came up for hearing before a bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice C Hari Shankar which directed that it be heard by another bench on August 16. It did not give any reason for not hearing the matter.

Apart from appointing retired chief justice of Rajasthan High Court Anil Dev Singh as an observer to oversee the organisation's elections, the single judge in her July 20 order had also restrained the apex body of 756 units of YMCAs in India from dealing with any of the immovable properties it holds in trust.

The single judge, while issuing the directions, had said that a perusal of the ballot forms of the election, scheduled to be held on September 2 at Adoor in Kerala, showed that "some important requirements have been deleted" and the lists of members was "drastically different" in respect of some of the member YMCAs in India.

YMCA is a worldwide organisation based in Geneva with more than 58 million beneficiaries from 125 national associations and aims to put Christian principles into practice.

The July 20 order had come on the interim pleas by several YMCAs -- of Puthoor, Kunnamkulam, Ernakulam and Bombay -- seeking appointing of an election officer and maintaining status quo regarding the immovable and movable properties.