Madras High Court sets aside order appointing interim administrator for Chettinad Vidyashram school

A Division Bench of the Madras High Court has set aside an order passed by a single judge on May 14, 2025 appointing an industrialist as the interim administrator of a society which runs Chettinad Vidyashram School in Chennai and remitted the matter to the single judge for fresh consideration.

The Bench comprising Justices P. Velmurugan and K. Govindarajan Thilakavadi requested the single judge to afford an opportunity to all the parties concerned to file their counter affidavits before passing orders on a plea to appoint a Special Officer, by the District Registrar of Societies, to administer the society.

The requistion was made while disposing of a batch of appeals filed by some of the members of the Managing Committee. Senior counsel Krishna Srinivasan and others had appeared for the appellants and assailed the single judge’s order on many grounds including the failure to grant opportunity to file counter affidavits.

“However, having regard to the paramount interest and smooth administration of the educational institution,” the Division Bench ordered the meetings of the Managing Committee must stand deferred until the single judge rehears the issue and passes necessary orders as expeditiously as possible.