Arbitrator gives award in favour of TANA board

Vijayawada: The voting rights issue of Telugu Association of North America (TANA) took an interesting turn as the arbitrator gave award against the claimants and in favour of TANA board on Friday. The arbitrator observed that there are no grounds to suggest that the board rejected voting rights to new applicants with dishonest and fraud motives.Delivering the award after a lengthy hearing on both sides, arbitrator Sally D Adkins said the claimants can only question the action of TANA board under Maryland law which governs the dispute, only when there is fraud, dishonesty or incompetence. However, after considering the testimonies of multiple witnesses and the membership verification committee (MVC) headed by Niranjan Srungavarapu, neither fraud nor incompetence could be found in TANA board of directors’ decision, Adkins added.The key issue involved in the entire litigation was the alleged failure of MVC to complete the verification of new applications within the stipulated time of April 30, 2022, which was the last date for finalising the voters’ list. Though the MVC failed to complete its mandated task within the time limit specified, it was not an intentional action but simply a mistaken failure to get its work done in time, observed Adkins.The arbitrator also noted that the action of the TANA board is also not inconsistent with its bylaws. The board tried to resolve the issue in good faith to avoid multiple litigations and associated costs in according voting rights to the claimants in the arbitration suit. It does not mean that all the members who did not get voting rights will stand on the same footing as that of the claimants, said Adkins, adding that the claimants cannot seek injunction on behalf of other applicants who were not party to the present litigation.