36-WP-1456-2026 (C).doc IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIRCUIT BENCH AT KOLHAPUR CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO. 1456 OF 2026 Lat Education Society Lat Thr Its Secretary Devgonda Annaso Patil ...Petitioner Versus The Dy Charity Commissioner And Anr ...Respondents ….. Adv. Akshay Kulkarni a/w Adv. Avesh Ghadge and Adv. Aditya Ghadge, Advocate for Petitioner. Mr. Sanjay D. Rayrikar, AGP for the Respondent No.1 and 2-State. ….. CORAM : SHAILESH P. BRAHME, J. DATE : 9th SEPTEMBER, 2026. P.C. : Heard. 2. The orders passed by Joint Charity Commissioner in Appeal No.85 of 2025 on 10.10.2025 and order dated 21.02.2025 passed by the Deputy Charity Commissioner in Change Report No.424 of 2022 are under Challenge. The appellants are the reporting trustees who solicited approval for the election of the body in a meeting dated 21.11.2021 for the tenure from 2021 to 2026. The change report is not contested by anybody. It was preferred against the public at large. There was also no contest before the appellate forum. ZIP 1 of 2 36-WP-1456-2026 (C).doc 3. The composition of the managing committee is of 13 members. Out of them, there was one vacancy due to death of Bhaskar Janardan Mule on 16.09.2020 during Covid-19 pandemic. It is not expected of the surviving trustees to take steps for filling up the vacancy. Non- compliance on the part of the applicant cannot be shown to be detrimental to the interest of the trust. The notice for convening the meeting for conducting election was issued by the secretary, which is said to be permissible as per Clause 12(d) read with Clause 15(a) of the bye-laws. The last reason for rejecting the report is recorded as the change took place in a special general body meeting and not annual meeting. When maximum number of members were present in the meeting concerned, the nomenclature hardly matters. 4. I find that impugned orders are unsustainable. Accordingly, the writ petition is allowed. The Change Report No.424 of 2022 shall stand accepted. [ SHAILESH P. BRAHME, J.] ZIP 2 of 2