The Kerala High Court on Thursday disqualified all office bearers and the entire Board of Directors of the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP Yogam), including its general secretary Vellappally Natesan, citing non-compliance of statutory requirements under the Companies Act by the organisation.
What were the violations?
Justice TR Ravi passed the order on a batch of pleas, including one by late professor M K Sanoo, alleging irregularities in the functioning of the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam, a prominent Ezhava community organization in Kerala.
According to a government lawyer, the violations related to statutory requirements applied to the organisation's governance as a whole. As a result, all office bearers and the entire Board of Directors were disqualified by the court. Among those disqualified is Thushar Vellappally, who was also a member of the organisation's board.
The SNDP Yogam is a prominent organisation representing the Ezhava community in Kerala and holds considerable social and political influence in the state.
Will disqualification impact Keralam polls?
Natesan is also the founder of Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS), which is allied with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the state.
The development comes ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in Kerala. The disqualification of Natesan could prove a wildcard for the BJP-BDJS alliance, as it may affect BDJS's ability to mobilise its core Ezhava vote bank.
Padma Bhushan to Natesan
Recently, Natesan was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2026 for his contributions to social service. However, his selection for Padma Bhushan was challenged in the Kerala High Court.
On February 26, the High Court sought the response of the Centre on a public interest litigation opposing the Padma Bhushan being conferred on Natesan.
A bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar VM also issued notice to Natesan, the Kerala government and the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) seeking their stand on the plea by a Kollam-based trust -- Sree Narayana Dharma Prabodhana Samrakshna Samithi.
The trust has claimed that Natesan does not deserve to be selected for the award, as he is accused in several corruption cases.
Natesan was selected for the country's third-highest civilian award last month.
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