Hammad Ahmed Vs Abdul Majeed & Ors. (Supreme Court of India)
Summary: The Supreme Court of India allowed the appeals filed by Hammad Ahmed against the Delhi High Court Division Bench order dated 27.11.2018, which had dismissed the plaintiff’s application under Order XXXIX Rules 1 and 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 and set aside the Single Judge’s order dated 25.10.2017. The dispute at the interim stage concerned who should discharge the duties of Chief Mutawalli of Hamdard Laboratories (India), earlier known as Hamdard Dawakhana, after the death of the previous undisputed Chief Mutawalli, Abdul Mueed, on 19.03.2015.
The Appellant claimed that, after Abdul Mueed’s death, he was the living senior-most male direct successor of the Wakif Mutawalli and took over as Chief Mutawalli on 20.03.2015. Abdul Majeed, the elder son of Abdul Mueed, separately declared himself Chief Mutawalli on 23.03.2015. Hammad Ahmed’s suit sought declarations and injunctions, including directions concerning Hamdard’s bank accounts, domain names, email server and ERP administrator passwords. In the connected suit, Asad Mueed sought removal of Hammad Ahmed and Hamed Ahmed from their positions as Mutawallis.
The Single Judge, while considering the interlocutory applications, held prima facie that the senior-most male descendant in the line of succession of the Wakif Mutawalli was entitled to be appointed as Chief Mutawalli. The Single Judge also held that mere pendency of criminal proceedings did not disqualify Hammad Ahmed because Clause 6(2) of the 1973 Deed referred to conviction for an offence involving moral turpitude. The Single Judge directed the defendants to hand over the relevant domain-name, email-server and ERP administrator passwords.
