Nadigar Sangam elections case: Madras High Court to pass orders on July 1

The Madras High Court has decided to pass orders on July 1, 2026 on a plea to reject a civil suit filed against the continuance of actors Nasser, Vishal Krishna and Karthi as president, general secretary and treasurer respectively of the South Indian Artistes Association, popularly known as Nadigar Sangam, even after the expiry of their three-year elected term on March 19, 2025.

Justice A.D. Maria Clete decided to deliver orders, on a plea to reject the plaint, after wondering how the plaintiff would stand to benefit even if the court decrees the suit and declares illegal a resolution passed at the 68^th annual general meeting (AGM) on September 8, 2024 when the Tamil Nadu government had subsequently issued a Government Order (G.O.) on October 14, 2025 extending the tenure of the office-bearers.

Nadigar Sangam counsel Krishna Ravindran brought it to the notice of the court that the plaintiff, V. Nambirajan, a member of the society, had challenged only the AGM resolution and not the subsequent G.O. issued under Section 54 of the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975. He said, the G.O. had extended the tenure of the office-bearers, elected on March 21, 2022, till March 19, 2028.

In his plaint, Mr. Nambirajan had contended the bylaws of Nadigar Sangam require the elections to be held once in three years and therefore, they ought to have been conducted after the expiry of the tenure of the present office-bearers on March 20, 2025. However, the office-bearers did not demit office and continued to hold the posts on the basis of the 2024 AGM resolution, he complained.

The Nadigar Sangam, on its part, told the court another member S.R. Sekar had moved a resolution at the 68^th AGM for extending the tenure of the office-bearers by three more years so that they could continue the ongoing construction of a convention centre, a dream project of the association, and complete it. The August 23, 2024 proposal was signed by 311 other members and was passed unanimously in the AGM.

Claiming that the 79-year-old plaintiff had not attended either the 2024 AGM or any other AGM ever since he became a member of the association in 2015, the office-bearers said, he appeared to have been used as a proxy litigant by some disgruntled elements who want to disrupt the functioning of the association and create hurdles for the completion of the convention centre.

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The court was also told the State government had last year accepted accepted Nadigar Sangam’s request to exempt it from conducting elections, expected to cost around ₹40 lakh, and permitted the existing office-bearers to continue in office till March 19, 2028. In the meantime, Mr. Sekar had filed an application in the High Court to reject the plaint filed by Mr. Nambirajan.