( 1 ) THE subject matter of these petitions under Article 226 of the Constitution is the controversy regarding the eligibility of the members of the managing committees of three cooperative societies (respondent No. 5 in each of the three petitions) to vote at the elections to APMC, Junagadh to be conducted under the Gujarat Agricultural Produce Markets Act, 1963 ( the Act for brevity ). The petitions have been heard for final disposal from time to time. Since common questions of law arise in these petitions, all the petitions are being disposed of by this common judgment.

( 2 ) THE Director of Agricultural Marketing and Rural Finance, Gujarat State (hereinafter referred to as the Director ) issued a notification on 23. 3. 2007 fixing the date of elections to APMC, Junagadh as under:

Date of presenting nomination forms of candidates 03. 7. 2007 Date of scrutiny of nomination forms 04. 7. 2007 Date of withdrawing nomination forms of candidates 09. 7. 2007 Date of polling 17. 7. 2007 Date of counting and date of declaration of result 18. 7. 2007

Thereafter on 5. 4. 2007, the Director announced the detailed program for holding elections to APMC, Junagadh as under and also appointed the deputy Director, Agricultural Marketing and Rural Finance and Dist. Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Junagadh District as the Authorised Officer:

1. Date of announcement of elections 2. Date on which the Authorised Officer shall issue instructions for preparation of the voters list 05. 4. 2007 3. Date of communicating the names of voters to the Authorised Officer [rule 7 (1)] 14. 4. 2007 4. Preparation of the provisional list of voters [rule 7 (2)] 21. 4. 2007 5. The last date for submitting objections/ applications for amendment/ addition to the provisional list of voters [rule 8 (1)] 6. The date of publication of revised list of voters [rule 8 (1a)] 11. 5. 2007 7. The last date for submitting objections to/applications for amendment to the revised list of voters [rule 8 (1a)] 18. 5. 2007 8. The date of publication of the final list of voters [rule 8 (2)] 28. 5. 2007 9. The date of filing nomination forms (Rule 11) 03. 7. 2007 10. The date of publication of the preliminary list of candidates (Rule 14) 03. 7. 2007 11. Date of scrutiny of nomination forms (Rules 15 & 16) 04. 7. 2007 12. Date of withdrawing nomination forms [rule 17 (1)] 09. 7. 2007 13. Date of publication of the final list of candidates [rule 17 (2)] 09. 7. 2007 14. Date of polling 17. 7. 2007 15. Date of counting 18. 7. 2007 16. Date of declaration of the result of elections As soon as counting is over 05. 4. 2007 03. 5. 2007

-Sd /-

MD Chauhan.

Director of Agricultural Marketing and Rural Finance

( 3 ) AS far as the three co-operative societies are concerned, these petitions came to be filed on 1. 5. 2007 challenging the registration of the societies and seeking a direction that the names of the members of the managing committees of the respondent-societies may not be included in the list of voters to be prepared and published for the purpose of elections to APMC, Junagadh for which the election program was already declared. It was also prayed that the respondent-authorities be directed not to consider the respondent-societies as registered societies for the purpose of elections to APMC, Junagadh.

( 4 ) IN the memo of the petitions, the petitioners have made various averments and submissions for the purpose of challenging the registration granted to the respondent-societies mainly contending that the societies were ordered to be registered as cooperative societies under telephonic instructions even though the respondent-societies were not entitled to be registered as cooperative societies under the Cooperative Societies Act, 1963. It is not necessary to narrate those facts or submissions for the simple reason that we do not propose to go into the question of legality or otherwise of the orders granting registration to the respondent-societies under the Cooperative