Petition to register ‘RSS’ rejected, activist to move HC

Nagpur: Karuna Patre, deputy registrar of societies in the office of charity commissioner, on Wednesday rejected the petition of former corporator Janardhan Moon to register a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of his own. Moon had filed a petition on the grounds that the real RSS was not a registered organization and hence he could form one of his own.

Patre, in her order, stated that the name RSS suggested government patronage and would create confusion in the minds of people. Moon has now decided to approach the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court against Patre's order. He told TOI that his online application had been accepted by the charity commissioner's office.

Rajendra Gundalwar had submitted an objection to Moon's petition in which he claimed that RSS was already registered as a national-level religious body in Delhi. Another objection was filed jointly by two individuals — Deepak Barad and Prashant Bopardikar — through their counsel Shriganesh Abhyankar. This application mainly pointed to Section 3A of Registration of Societies Act, 1860, which specifically bars use of word 'National' (Rashtriya) in the name of any society. During the hearing on Moon's plea, Abhyankar argued that a second RSS would only confuse the society in general.

During the hearing held in September, Patre heard arguments of the disputing parties involved. Barad and Bopardikar sought documents like minutes of the meeting of Moon's RSS meetings, how it was formed and who proposed and seconded the name RSS and the intention behind forming it.

Moon had filed a petition in the charity commissioner's office in August seeking to register his 13-member organization as RSS. The move was clearly aimed at embarrassing the Sangh.

Headquartered in the city, the fountainhead of Hindutva was established in pre-Independence era in 1925. Apparently, no one bothered to register it as a non-government organization with the regulatory body though it has grown to be the world's largest socio-cultural organization of its kind and today wields enormous political and social influence too.

Moon has been going after RSS for the last few years. Soon after Devendra Fadnavis became chief minister of Maharashtra, he submitted a memorandum to him wanting to know under what powers and law was the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat being provided 'Z plus' security at the cost of public exchequer. Also, when the RSS was not even a registered organization, how come the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) was providing security to the Sangh building in Mahal, he had asked the CM. He has also filed a petition in the HC objecting to Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) constructing a boundary wall around RSS's Smruti Mandir.