Sections 17 to 19 Societies Registration Act: Older Societies and Inspection

The closing sections of the Act answer two housekeeping questions that mattered greatly in 1860 and still matter today. What happens to the learned and charitable bodies that already existed when the Act was passed? Sections 17 and 18 let them opt in. And what makes registration worth anything to the outside world? Section 19 makes the Registrar's file a public record, inspectable by anyone, with certified copies that prove themselves in court.

1. Registering the older societies: sections 17 and 18

• Who may use the route. Companies and societies established for literary, scientific or charitable purposes before the Act, whether registered under the earlier Act of 1850 or never registered at all, may register under this Act.
• The democratic condition. Registration requires the assent of three-fifths of the members present personally, or by proxy where the rules allow, at a general meeting convened for the purpose; the Act's respect for the members' collective will begins here and runs through sections 12 and 13.
• The filings (section 18). The registering society files the memorandum and certified rules in the ordinary way, with the addition the section makes for showing the meeting's assent, and on registration stands in the same position as a society formed under the Act.
• Modern relevance. The route still matters for venerable institutions, learned societies, old schools and libraries, whose founding predates the Act or whose paper trail began under other laws, and it is the textual peg for the proposition that registration adopts an existing body rather than creating a new one.

Figure 1: The opt-in route for pre-Act bodies

2. The public record: section 19

• Anyone may inspect. The right is not confined to members: a donor, a journalist, an opposing litigant or a curious citizen may inspect the file on paying the fee.
• Certified copies prove themselves. The certified copy is prima facie evidence of its contents in all legal proceedings, the practical bridge between the Registrar's file and the courtroom.
• Fees. The original section named flat rates; State amendments, as in Uttar Pradesh, let the government notify the fees from time to time.
• The record's limits. The file proves what was filed; it does not certify that an election was valid or that the society is well run, so the record is the beginning of due diligence, not the end.

Figure 2: The file section 19 opens

3. The two provisions together

Figure 3: Opting in, and opening up

Sections 17 to 19 complete the Act's design. The opt-in route shows that the Act adds a status to an association that already exists, which is why registration under section 17 needs only the members' assent and fresh filings, not a re-founding. The inspection section shows what the status is for: a registered society lives on a public file, and everyone it deals with can verify its constitution and its governing body from that file. Together they explain the Act's continuing usefulness: joining the register is easy, and being on it is informative.

4. Quick Revision

1. Three-fifths of members present, at a purpose-convened meeting, is the section 17 threshold.
2. Registration adopts an existing body; it does not create one.
3. The inspection right belongs to any person, not only members.
4. Certified copies walk the record into court.
5. Fees are now fixed by State notification.

5. Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the Act keep referring to three-fifths of members?

Because its drafters trusted the general meeting, not the governing body, with every structural decision. Registration of an existing society under section 17, alteration or amalgamation under section 12, dissolution under section 13 and the destination of surplus property under section 14 all require the assent of three-fifths, variously of the members present and voting or of the whole membership as each section provides. The pattern gives a stable super-majority rule: ordinary management belongs to the governing body, but the society's identity, existence and property belong to the members, and only a decisive majority of them can deal with those. Exam answers gain by naming the sections that share the fraction.

Is the section 19 right subject to any screening, like RTI requests?

No. Section 19 is older and simpler than the Right to Information Act: it attaches to the documents filed with the Registrar, it is exercised by paying the fee, and it carries no exemptions, no locus requirement and no screening of the applicant's purpose. The RTI Act operates alongside it against the Registrar's office as a public authority, and against those societies that are themselves public authorities because they are substantially financed, a separate question treated with the RTI interface. For the ordinary applicant who only wants the memorandum, rules and lists of a society, section 19 remains the quicker instrument, and the certified copy it yields has the evidentiary edge.

Our institution was founded in 1855 and never registered. Can it still use section 17?

Yes, if it is a society for a purpose within the Act and its members choose registration by the required majority. The society convenes a general meeting specifically for the purpose, obtains the assent of three-fifths of the members present and voting, settles a memorandum stating its name, objects and governing body, certifies its rules and files the set under section 18 in the State of its principal activity, under that State's current law and fees. Registration then operates prospectively: the institution keeps its history, its name and its property, and gains the statutory conveniences from the certificate onward. Property held by trustees under old instruments stays on their trusts; section 5 simply adds the statutory vesting for property not otherwise vested.

6. Related Topics and Provisions

• Registration under section 3
• Annual list under section 4
• Alteration and amalgamation under section 12
• Dissolution under sections 13 and 14
• RTI and registered societies
• Property of a society: section 5