High Court
Case Details
MC 3546/2012 BEFORE THE HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE A. K. GOSWAMI
Legal Reasoning
Heard Md. M. H. Rajbarbhuiyan, learned counsel for petitioner. Also heard Mr. B. Banerjee, learned counsel appearing for respondent No.8 / applicant, seeking va cation of the interim order dated 17.09.2012. Also heard Mr. M. J. Quadri, learn ed counsel for respondent No.7 and Mr. J.M.A. Choudhury, learned counsel for Co- operative Department, appearing for respondent Nos. 1, 2, 3 & 4. The writ petitioner was appointed as Secretary of Mohanpur G.P.S.S Ltd. by the M anaging Committee of the said society in the year 2007 and the subject matter of the writ petition centers around the action of the respondent authorities in pa ssing orders, which, in effect, removes the petitioner from the said post of Sec retary. While passing the interim order dated 17.09.2012, this Court noted as under: (cid:28)The main contention of the petitioner in this case is that under the relevant provisions of the bye-laws of the Society as well as the Assam Co-oper ative Societies Acts and Rules, 2007, the State Government cannot directly appo int a Secretary without first being requested by the Board on the basis of a res olution. In the present case, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner state d that the State respondents had issued an order dated 28th July, 2012 appointin g the respondent No.6 as Secretary of the Mohanpur Co-operative Society Ltd. wit hout the aforesaid procedure being complied with and accordingly, the same is no t sustainable. Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner also has drawn at tention to order dated 8th September, 2012 by which the Deputy Commissioner, Hai lakandi and submitted that Deputy Commissioner had issued a direction regarding holding of election of the Gram Panchayat Samabai Samity, which according to the petitioner, also is not permissible as the Deputy Commissioner has no role to p lay under any of the provisions of the Assam Co-operative Societies Acts and Rul es, 2007, which govern the affairs of the Co-operative Societies. Considering the above submissions, in the interim, it is provided that the orders dated 28.07.2012 and 08.09.2012 shall remain suspended until fu rther orders. (cid:29) The Deputy Commissioner of Hailakandi, had passed an order dated 08.0 9.2012 to the effect that Mohanpur G.P.S.S will not process holding of election till new Secretary of the society takes over charge. Prior to that, by an order dated 28.07.2012, the new Secretary, who is a Junior Inspector of the Co-Operati ve Societies was allowed to act as secretary of the society in place of the peti tioner. Mr. Banerjee submits that by an order passed on 06.08.2012 in WP(C) No. 3575 of 2012, this Court directed the Registrar of Co-operative Societies, Assam, to hol d the Annual General Meeting, for short, AGM and election of Mohanpur Co-operati ve Society with certain directions as contained in the said order. It is submitt ed by him that in violation of the directions given by this Court, AGM of the so ciety was held on 18.09.2012. The voter list prepared for the purpose of the ele ction was a defective list as it also included fictitious names and some names w ere repeated number of times. Averments are made in the application that voter list was not corrected to facil itate election of the writ petitioner in the said election. It is also submitted by Mr. Banerjee that the writ petitioner is a shareholder of two societies and therefore, interim order, which, in effect, permits the writ petitioner to conti nue as Secretary of the Society, requires to be vacated. Mr. Rajbarbhuiyan submits that elections have been held in the AGM on 18.09.2012 and the proceeding of the AGM had also been approved and the applicant and, for that matter, no other shareholder had challenged the order of approval of the p roceedings of AGM. It is also submitted by him that writ petitioner did not cont est in the elections, as sought to be projected by Mr. Banerjee in the applicati on for vacation of the interim order. It is also submitted by him that a shareho lder of two different societies is not debarred from acting as Secretary of one of the co-operative societies. This Court while passing the order dated 06.08.2012, passed the following direct ions: (cid:28)1. The Registrar of Co-operative Societies, Assam, shall finalise the voters li st of the co-operative society within 15 (fifteen) days from today. 2. After preparation of the voters list within the period indicated above, the Annual General Meeting/ Election shall be held within a period of 1 (one) month thereafter. 3. For holding the Annual General Meeting/ Election properly, the As sistant Registrar of co-operative societies, Hailakandi, shall depute department al officials to be present in the meeting. 4. Till completion of the exercise as indicated above, the respondents shall not appoint any adhoc body to manage the co-operative society. The Registrar of co-operative societies shall ensure that the time fra me indicated above should be strictly adhered to and any violation thereof will be his responsibility. (cid:29) The fact that elections have been taken place and that the same had been approve d is not disputed by Mr. Banerjee. The main trust of the applicant in support of vacation of the interim order is w ith regard to alleged anomalies in the election and more particularly, in the vo ter list. Admittedly, respondent No.8 / applicant has not assailed the proceedin g of the AGM. No arguments have been advanced by Mr. Banerjee on the contentions of the writ p etitioner which persuaded the Court to pass the interim order. Whether or not it is permissible for a shareholder to continue in two societies and whether a shareholder in two co-operative societies can be a Secretary in on e of the co-operative societies, is a question, which will have to be adjudicate d in detail. In view of the above, I am not inclined to vacate the interim order and as such, the application for vacating the interim order stands dismissed. Misc. Case is dismissed