News Citation : 2026 LN (HC) 39
Bilaspur, January 13, 2026 : The High Court of Chhattisgarh at Bilaspur has dismissed a writ petition challenging the election of the State Management Committee of the Indian Red Cross Society, Chhattisgarh branch, for the 2024–2027 term. The court upheld the validity of the election process and vacated earlier interim orders that had restricted the functioning of the newly elected body.
The petition was filed by a life member of the Society who claimed that he was unlawfully prevented from casting his vote during the State-level election held on April 11, 2025. He also alleged that the failure to conduct elections for the Surguja District Branch vitiated the entire State-level process. The petitioner sought to have the election declared null and void and requested fresh elections.
After examining the record and the relevant provisions of the Indian Red Cross Society Branch Committees Rules, 2017, Justice Narendra Kumar Vyas held that the petitioner did not have a legal right to vote at the State level. The court noted that under the Rules, a member must first be elected at the District level to gain voting rights in higher bodies. In this case, no District-level election had been conducted in Surguja, and the petitioner was only permitted to attend the meeting, not to vote.
The court further observed that even if the petitioner had been allowed to vote, the election outcome would not have changed, given the clear margin of votes secured by the winning candidates. On this basis, the court found no illegality or procedural irregularity that warranted interference under Article 226 of the Constitution.
While dismissing the petition, the High Court also relied on settled Supreme Court jurisprudence that discourages judicial interference once the election process has commenced. The bench emphasised that election-related disputes should ordinarily be resolved through appropriate statutory remedies after the completion of the electoral process, rather than through writ proceedings.
As a result, the writ petition was dismissed, and the interim orders passed earlier were formally vacated, allowing the elected office bearers of the Indian Red Cross Society, Chhattisgarh State Branch, to function without restriction.
Case Reference : WPC No. 1945 of 2025, Karta Ram Gupta S/o Shri Jagannath Gupta, District Sarguja v. State of Chhattisgarh & Others; Counsel for the Petitioner: Ms. Meena Shastri, Advocate; Counsel for the State: Mr. Praveen Das, Additional Advocate General, assisted by Mr. Shreyansh Mehta, Panel Lawyer; Counsel for Respondents No. 7 to 9: Mr. Himanshu Pandey and Mr. Ashutosh Mishra, Advocates.
