RULES AND REGULATIONS OFCOMMON CAUSE
(A SOCIETY UNDER THE SOCIETIES REGISTRATION ACT, 1860)
AS AMENDED VIDE RESOLUTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY IN THE MEETING OF THE GOVERNING COUNCIL HELD ON 21.09.1996 IN ACCORDANCE WITH RULE 24 OF THE RULES AND REGULATIONS WITH A 2/3RD MAJORITY OF MEMBERSHIP OF THE GOVERNING COUNCIL; AND AS FURTHER AMENDED BY THE GOVERNING COUNCIL ON 08.03.2007.
1. In these Rules, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context.
i) "Society" means the "COMMON CAUSE";
ii) "Member" means a member of the Society;
iii) "Board of Trustees" or "Board" means the "Board of Trustees" of the Society, as elaborated in Rule 7 (formerly Rule 8);
iv) "Governing Council" means the Governing Council of the Society, as prescribed in Rule 8 (formerly Rule 9);
v) "Rules" shall mean the Rules & Regulations of the Society for the time being in force;
2. Membership:
(i) Membership of the Society shall be open to individuals irrespective of caste, creed or community.
(ii) Membership of the Society shall no longer be open to persons other than individuals.
(iii) Every member shall be bound to conform to the Rules & Regulations of the Society as may, from time to time, be in force;
3. Patrons:
Any known or important persons may be appointed as Patrons of the Society by the Governing Council. The President shall have the powers to send letters of request to such persons for their approval to be appointed Patrons of the Society. Any member of the Society can also be designated as Patron.
4. Categories of Members
i) Ordinary Members:
Any person who agrees to abide by the Rules & Regulations may be made an ordinary member. Application for membership, renewable yearly, must be made on a prescribed form, and will be subject to approval by the Governing Council or a designated committee thereof. An application for membership may be refused in the absolute discretion of the Governing Council or the committee, as the case may be. There will be two classes of Ordinary Members: (i) Individual Members who will have voting rights; and (ii) Associate Members who will not have voting rights.
(ii) Life Members:
Any person having faith in the objectives of the Society and who is qualified for being enrolled as an Ordinary Member may become a Life Member. Application for membership must be made on a prescribed form, and will be subject to approval by the Governing Council or a designated committee thereof. An application for membership may be refused in the absolute discretion of the Governing Council or the committee, as the case may be. There will be two classes of Life Members: (i) Individual Life Members who will have voting rights; and (ii) Associate Life Members who will not have voting rights.
(iii) Honorary Members
Those organizations which are members of the Society as on the date of adoption of these Rules shall be Honorary Members of the Society without any voting rights.
5. Membership Fees
Membership fees for each class of members will be fixed and may be amended by the Governing Council from time to time.
6. Termination of Membership:
The membership of the Society, including honorary membership, shall be terminated on the following grounds.
i) in the case of resignation;
ii) on death, or dissolution;
iii) on default in payment of membership fees;
iv) on conviction for criminal offence involving moral turpitude.
7. Board of Trustees
(i) The Board of Trustees shall consist of a maximum of seven individuals.
(ii) There shall be four permanent Trustees so that continuity in the functioning and operations of the Society is maintained. Any vacancy caused on any ground whatsoever among the permanent Trustees shall be filled by a majority decision of the remaining permanent Trustees then serving on the Board.
(iii) The Director shall be an ex-officio Trustee. The remaining two Trustees shall be nominated by the Governing Council every three years. Any vacancy caused in the office of such nominated Trustee shall be filled in for the balance term by another individual nominated by the Governing Council. The Governing Council will have the authority to change its nominees whenever it so decides by a 2/3rd majority of the Governing Council.
(iv) The Board of Trustees shall elect its Chairman / Vice Chairman by a simple majority. The Chairman and in his absence the Vice Chairman shall chair the meetings of the Board. The Board shall be entitled to prescribe its own rules of functioning, including the convening and conduct of its meetings, transaction of business, maintenance of its records, and the retirement age of the permanent Trustees. The quorum for meetings shall be three Trustees, of which at least two must be permanent Trustees.
(v) The Board of Trustees shall exercise powers in respect of matters listed in the Appendix I to these Rules. Where any of these powers are also exercisable by the Governing Council/Director, implementation of the decision thereon shall be decided by the President of the Society taking into consideration the views of the Governing Council and of the Board of Trustees.
(vi) The Board of Trustees in office as on the date of adoption of these revised Rules consists of persons listed in Schedule I hereto.
8. Governing Council:
i) The Governing Council shall consist of not less than seven and not more than twelve members, including the Director as an ex-officio member.
ii) The constitution of the Governing Council will be as follows:
(a) The four Permanent Trustees shall be members of the Council.
(b) The Director shall be an ex-officio member; and
(c) The remaining members shall be elected from amongst the Ordinary Members and Life Members of the Society as provided herein.
iii) The Governing Council shall elect from amongst its members the following office bearers: (a) the President; (b) the Vice President; and (iii) the Honorary Treasurer, as provided in these Rules. The Governing Council may appoint such other officers of the Society and for such term as it deems fit and proper.
iv) The President shall be elected by the Governing Council out of three names short-listed by the Board of Trustees. S/he could be from the existing membership of the Governing Council or from outside (and in the latter case, upon such election, the concerned individual shall take up membership of the Society as an Individual Member or a Life Member). The term of the President shall be 3 years. The term of the Vice President and the Hony. Treasurer may be fixed by the Governing Council but shall not exceed 3 years. Provided that when any matters relating to election/appointment of any of the aforesaid office-bearers are considered in any Governing Council meeting, the concerned individual shall not be present in the meeting, nor be entitled to vote.
v) One third members of the Governing Council (other than the President, the Director and the four Permanent Trustees) or, if the number is not three or multiple of three, the number nearest to one-third, initially selected on the basis of drawing lots, and subsequently by rotation, shall retire every year and the seats thus rendered vacant, will be filled by individuals elected in the Annual General meeting from amongst the Individual Members and Life Members.
vi) The Governing Council shall continue functioning till the new Governing Council is constituted, and its decisions will not be deemed invalid merely on the grounds of any deficiencies in its composition at any particular time.
9. Office Bearers:
(i) President/Vice President elected by the Governing Council shall preside over the meetings of the Governing Council and the General Body. Proceedings of the General Meeting and the Governing Council shall be authenticated by the signatures of the President/Vice President.
(ii) The Hony. Treasurer shall review the finances and accounts of the Society every quarter, and shall inform the Governing Council of his/her findings. S/he shall also liaise with the statutory auditors of the Society, and with the internal auditors, if any.
(iii) The Director shall be the Chief Executive of the Society. S/he will work closely with the Governing Council to provide direction and leadership for the organisation. S/he shall have powers, as authorized by the President, regarding the appointment, promotion, suspension and dismissal of staff, taking premises on rent, and performing all other functions on behalf of the Society
(iv) The Director shall also function as a Secretary and discharge the following responsibilities:
a) To summon meetings of the Society and of the Governing Council under the instructions of the President or Vice President as the circumstances may require;
b) To attend meetings of the Society and of the Governing Council;
c) To circulate the agenda for each meeting;
d) To record the proceedings of such meetings, and to circulate them to all those entitled to receive them.
(v) The Director shall exercise the executive functions delegated to him/her by the Governing Council. S/he shall look after the administrative functions of the Society, including the following:
a) maintain an upto date register of members;
b) realize annual fees from Ordinary members and collect other donations from members and patrons or donors;
c) maintain regular accounts of all moneys received and moneys spent;
d) keep such amount as petty cash as may be determined by the Governing Council from time to time. The balance shall be deposited in the Society's account.
e) prepare yearly reports on the working of the Society, and
f) carry on such other duties as may be assigned to him/her by the Governing Council, the President or the Vice President.
10. Termination or removal of Governing Council Members:
A member of the Governing Council (other than a member who is Permanent Trustee), failing to attend four consecutive meetings without leave of absence, shall cease to be a member of the Governing Council, unless the Governing Council exempts him/her from attending such meetings.
11. Indemnity
Subject to the provisions of The Societies Registration Act, 1860 (Punjab Amendment Act, 1957) as extended to the Union Territory of Delhi, the President/Vice President, Hony. Secretary, Hony. Treasurer, Chairman/Vice Chairman, Director, and their heirs, executors and administrators respectively shall be indemnified out of the assets of the Society from and against all suits, proceedings, costs, charges, losses, damages and expenses which they or any of them shall or may incur or sustain by reasons of any act done or committed in or about the execution of the duty in their respective offices, except such (if any) as they shall or may incur or sustain by or through their own willful neglect or default respectively and no such officer shall be answerable for the acts, receipts, neglect or defaults of any other officer or for solvency or honesty of any member to other persons with whom moneys or effects belonging to the Society may be lodged or deposited for safe custody or for insufficiency or any security upon which any money of the Society shall be invested of any other loss or damage due to any such cause as aforesaid or which may result from the execution of his/her office unless the same shall happen through the willful neglect or default of such officer.
12. Filling up of Vacancies:
If a member or office-bearer of the Governing Council resigns or dies or is excluded from such membership before the expiry of his/her term of office, it shall be open to the remaining members of the Governing Council to fill up the vacancy for the remaining term.
13. General Meeting
A meeting of the members of the Society shall be held once a year (which will be called the Annual General Meeting) within twelve months of the close of the year and the following business shall be transacted:
i) Adoption of the Annual Accounts and consideration of the Annual Report;
ii) Election of the members of the Governing Council in place of retiring members;
iii) Consideration of such matters as may be raised by members in relation to the work of the Society.
14. Extraordinary General Meeting
An Extraordinary General Meeting of the members shall be called by the Hony. Secretary, if required to do so by half the total strength of the Governing Council or 1/10th of the total members of the Society.
15. Quorum:
a. Governing Council: One third of the members of the Governing Council, rounded off to the nearest whole number, shall form the quorum.
b. General Body: One fifth of all voting members or not less than 30 members of the General Body shall form the quorum. However, if within fifteen minutes of the beginning of the meeting the quorum is not present, the meeting shall stand adjourned and be held after half an hour of the original scheduled time, and the members present in the adjourned meeting shall form the quorum of that meeting.
16. Notice of the Meeting:
Seven days' clear notice shall be given for convening any meeting of the Governing Council, and fifteen days' clear notice shall be given for convening a General Meeting.
17. Decisions:
All matters shall be decided by majority votes of the members present and voting at the meeting. In the event of a tie, the Chairman of the meeting shall have the right to exercise a casting vote.
18. Powers of the Governing Council:
The Governing Council shall have the right to exercise all such powers as are necessary for the proper control and management of the affairs of the Society including the exercise of the following powers;
a) to open, operate or close any account with any scheduled bank or banks and to authorize any member or members of the Governing Council or other officers / employees of the Society to operate the same;
b) to empower the Director to exercise all or any of the powers of the Governing Council;
c) to appoint any committee or sub-committee for performing any task of the Society subject to its control and supervision;
d) to purchase, take or give on lease or hire otherwise acquire, sell, manage or deal with any movable property for any of the objects of the Society;
e) to borrow or raise money by organizing any activities in a lawful manner which the Society may think fit;
f) to invest any money of the Society not immediately required for any of its objects as may be determined by the Society; and
g) to appoint the Auditors.
19. Financial Year:
The financial year of the Society shall be reckoned from the 1st of April each year to 31st March of the following year.
20. Audit:
Accounts of the Society, after incorporating the accounts of the Board of Trustees, if any, shall be audited by a Chartered Accountant and his/her report shall be appended to the Annual Report to be submitted by the Governing Council at the Annual General Meeting.
21. The Society shall file with the Registrar of Societies at the end of every annual election a list of members of the Governing Council required under Section 4 of the Act
22. The Society may sue or be sued in the name of the President or the Director of the Society.
23. If the circumstances necessitate and the Society has to be dissolved the dissolution shall take place only in accordance with the provisions laid down in Section 13 and 14 of The Societies Registration Act, 1860.
24. In case any amendments are to be made in the Memorandum or Rules & Regulations of the Society, the same shall be in accordance with the provisions of Section 12 of the Act in regard to the Memorandum, and a 2/3rd majority of the Governing Council in the case of Rules & Regulations.
25. All the provisions of The Societies Registration Act, 1860 (Punjab Amendment Act 1957) as extended to the Union Territory of Delhi, shall apply to the Society.
