SNDP Yogam disqualification: High Court Division Bench to hear all appeals on June 1

KOCHI: SNDP Yogam President Dr. M.N. Soman and Devaswom Secretary Arayakandy Santosh have filed an appeal in the High Court challenging the disqualification of the organization's directors. This appeal was submitted to the Division Bench in response to a Single Bench order issued on March 12. Earlier, the Division Bench stayed that order following separate appeals by Yogam General Secretary Vellappally Natesan and Vice President Thushar Vellappally. As a result of this stay, the current office bearers will remain in their positions. All associated appeals are scheduled to be heard together on June 1 before a bench comprising Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice V.M. Shyamkumar.

The Single Bench had originally disqualified the directors for failing to submit consecutive annual income and expenditure accounts under the Companies Act and for not possessing a Director Identification Number (DIN). However, the Division Bench highlighted a report from the Registration IG stating that the delay in filing was due to Yogam’s documents being in High Court custody for ten years. Furthermore, the court granted the stay based on the prima facie validity of the argument that the Kerala government does not currently have a system in place to issue a DIN. All further administrative steps will be dictated by the court's final verdict.