A federal society has no authority to decide on the legality of the membership of a member nominated/appointed by its member society so as to not include him in the provisional voters list.

JUDGMENT :

Both these petitions raise common questions of fact and law, hence, are being decided by this common judgment.

2. At the stage of preparation of a provisional voters list for elections to the managing committee of a federal society, whether the federal society has any authority to decide on the legality of the membership of a member nominated/appointed by its member society so as to not include him in the provisional voters list, is the issue which falls for consideration in these petitions. In the present case the federal society is the Satara District Central Co-operative Bank Ltd. (for short ‘the bank’)- respondent No. 4 in both the petitions.

3. The challenge in these two petitions is to two similar orders both dated 20 September, 2021 passed by the ‘District Co-operative Society Election Officer and the Divisional Joint Registrar Co-operative Societies’, Kolhapur Division, Kolhapur, arrayed as respondent No. 3 (for short ‘the Election Officer’), who has held that the non- inclusion/ deletion of respondent No. 5 in the first petition namely of Shri. Jaikumar Bhagwanrao Gore being a nominee of respondent No. 6-Kailasvasi Gorakhnath Panipuravatha Sahakari Sanstha Maryadit, Varkute, Malavadi, Taluka Man, District Satara, and the non-inclusion/deletion of Respondent No. 5, in the second writ petition namely of Shri. Ranjeetsinha Hindurao Naik-Nimbalkar, nominee of Shri. Sant Sawatamali Pani Puravatha Sahakari Sanstha Maryadit Varkute, Malavdi, Taluka-Man, District Satara, is an act of the federal society –the bank without jurisdiction. By the impugned order, the Election Officer has upheld the objections, raised by the said nominees of these primary societies against the non-inclusion/deletion of their names from the provisional voters list, as forwarded by the bank and published by the Election Officer and has directed the inclusion of their names in the final voters list.

4. The factual antecedents are required to be noted :

On 6 May, 2020 the term of the erstwhile managing committee of the bank came to an end. It needs to be noted that this was the period in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic which had engulfed our country with effect from March, 2021. Thus, immediately the process to hold fresh elections could not be commenced and the same was generally extended.

5. The Election Officer by his communication dated 11 February, 2021 informed the ‘District Co-operative Election Officers’, of a programme for preparation of voters list, for election to be held of the District Central Co-operative Banks. Such programme was to commence inter-alia on 15 February, 2021 namely the date on which the District Election Officer was to call for resolutions of the member societies, nominating their members; the programme was supposed to end with the preparation of the final voters list on 5 April, 2021. Respondent No. 6 societies in both these petitions, being the member societies of the bank, by their letters dated 18 February, 2021 addressed to the Election Officer, forwarded their respective resolutions nominating their members, namely Shri. Jaikumar Bhagwanrao Gore-respondent No. 5 in the first petition and Shri. Ranjeetsinha Hindurao Naik-Nimbalkar -respondent No. 5 in the second petition (for convenience collectively referred as “respondent No. 5”) for inclusion of their names in the provisional voters list. Along with such letters copies of the society’s resolutions and the other relevant documents were enclosed and forwarded to the Election Officer. The election programme, however, was further deferred due to the pandemic. By a fresh notification dated 13 August, 2021 a new programme for preparation of the final voters list was notified by the State Co-operative Election Authority. The new programme as notified is as under :—

Agenda to finalize the Draft Voters List for District Central Co-operative Bank ;

1 Forwarding of the Resolutions of representatives by the District Co-operative Election Officer to the Bank Dt. 17