"Highly Respected Organisation Maligned": Allahabad High Court Pulls Up Litigant for Misusing RSS Affiliation in Private RWA Dispute
Court says investigation clearly half baked as it appeared to be under the influence of the RSS member
The Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench) has strongly deprecated the misuse of the name and affiliation of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in a purely private dispute arising out of a Resident Welfare Association (RWA) conflict, holding that the criminal proceedings initiated by a disgruntled resident amounted to a clear abuse of the process of law.
The Court observed that a highly disciplined and respected organisation like the RSS appeared to have been unnecessarily maligned by being dragged into the dispute, and has been misused for personal ends. Leaving it open to the organisation to take an action as it may deem fit, the Court said that criminal law cannot be weaponised to settle personal scores or residential disputes.
Noting that the resident-opposite party in the matter, was a trustee of Bhavrao Devras Trust of RSS who was residing in the said apartment since 2022, the bench said that the investigation was clearly half baked and appeared to be under the influence of the office said to be held.
Justice Pankaj Bhatia categorically observed, “‘With great powers come great responsibility’. The Opposite Party No.2 has clearly not gained responsibilities with the great powers that have come his way as claimed by him. It will be open to the organization of which the informant claims to be a member to see whether the browbeating of their members to the common public is sanctioned in favour of the Opposite Party No.2 owing to his office. Prima-facie, a highly disciplined and respected cultural organization like the RSS has been maligned and the membership has been misused in the present case by Opposite Party No.2, however, this Court is not well equipped to go any further with regard to the acts of Opposite Party No.2 in misusing the name of a respected cultural organisation in the manner in which it has been done” .
“This Court cannot ignore the manner in which the investigation has been carried out in the present case. In terms of the statement given by the informant, allegation of extortion by RWA was made which was denied in the statements made by the applicants, thus, it was incumbent upon the Investigating Officer to have taken the statement of the residents, verify the resolution passed by the RWA including their bye-laws, to form an opinion whether the allegations alleged amounted to offence or not. There is no material that any amount was actually taken from the informant which is a sine qua non for extortion. The charge sheet was filed in a hurried manner only after recording the statement of the informant as well as the applicants; even the material given by the informant was not got cross checked. As per the records, no material exists in the form of statement of any residents that any threat was issued at any point of time or any extortion was done”, the bench further observed.
Advocate Shailendra Kumar Singh appeared for the applicant and V.K. Singh, GA, Advocate Dr. L.P. Mishra appeared for the opposite parties.
The issue in the matter pertained to a disagreement relating to parking arrangements within the residential apartment complex “Celebrity Greens”, situated at Sushant Golf City, Lucknow.
As per the facts, the allegations were that the RWA was unauthorizedly charging ₹500 and it was stated that in case the vehicles are not removed ₹500 would be charged after putting in locks at the third instance.
The Court was thus dealing with a plea seeking quashing of criminal proceedings initiated against duly elected members of an RWA, where the informant sought to project himself as wielding authority by virtue of his claimed association with the RSS.
The FIR alleged intimidation and misuse of power, but the Court found that the dispute was essentially private in nature and stemmed from internal disagreements within the residential association.
It emphasised that the FIR reflected nothing more than an attempt by a disgruntled resident to harass elected RWA members through criminal prosecution.
Holding that the proceedings lacked any genuine criminal substance and were an abuse of the judicial process, the High Court quashed the case, reiterating that personal grievances must not be dressed up as criminal offences by invoking institutional names or claimed authority.
Cause Title: Kamalesh Agnihotri @ Kamal And 2 Others v. State Of U.P. Thru. Secy. Home Deptt. Lko. and Another [Neutral Citation: 2026:AHC-LKO:9729]
Appearances:
Applicant: Shailendra Kumar Singh, Mohit Mishra, Suneel Kumar, Advocates.
Opposite Parties: V.K. Singh, GA, Bhanu Pratap Singh, AGA – I, Dr. L.P. Mishra, Sriniwas Bajpai and Abhay Shukla, Advocates.
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