The Kerala High Court on Tuesday came down heavily on members of the Ernakulam chapter of the Indian Red Cross Society, observing that they appeared to have lost sight of the organisation’s core humanitarian objectives.

The remarks came while the Court was hearing a batch of appeals related to the 2022 election to the Managing Committee of the district branch.
[TR Vasudevan v. Balakrishnan Kartha & Ors.]

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Nitin J Jamdar and Justice S Manu expressed concern over the persistent legal wrangling between members, noting that more effort seemed to be going into litigating election-related disputes than in serving the public.

"Negotiations are ongoing. Mediation is still in progress," the counsel for the District Committee submitted. However, the Bench noted that despite this, some members had approached the single judge with a writ petition, and five appeals were now pending before the Division Bench.

"It appears to us that the members of this society have lost sight of the primary objective of the Red Cross Society. The sheer volume of litigation indicates that considerable time and resources are being diverted toward legal battles rather than public service,” the Court observed.

Chief Justice Jamdar further remarked that such frequent litigation was consuming valuable judicial time.

"Are your members spending more time in court or working for the Red Cross? What about the main work? How many matters, how much time is being spent on this?” he asked orally during the hearing.

The Bench warned that if the internal disputes are not resolved soon, the Court may be compelled to intervene directly.

"If no resolution is in sight, this Court will have to take matters into its own hands to ensure that the objectives of the Red Cross Society are not undermined by the conduct of its members," the order stated.

The legal tussle began after several members of the Society alleged that the then managing committee was attempting to conduct elections in violation of the Indian Red Cross Society’s rules. In March 2022, Justice N Nagaresh, sitting as a single judge, had declared the proposed election illegal. He directed that a returning officer be appointed by the State Branch to oversee the process and finalise the voter list in accordance with law.

Following this, members of the (then existing) managing committee challenged the verdict before the Division Bench, leading to the current round of appeals.

Although the parties had earlier indicated a willingness to settle the matter amicably, no breakthrough has been achieved so far.

The case will be heard next on June 2.