IMPORTANT POINT
The Board of Nominees has jurisdiction over disputes related to the constitution and management of societies under Section 96 of the Gujarat Co-Operative Societies Act, 1961.

JUDGMENT :

(PER : HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MRS. JUSTICE SUNITA AGARWAL)

1. The instant appeal arising out of Special Civil Application No. 11194 of 2022 is directed against the common judgement and order dated 10.07.2023 which was passed by the writ Court in the above petition with Special Civil Application No. 11197 of 2022.

2. We may note, at the outset, that the judgement and order dated 10.07.2023 in Special Civil Application No. 11197 of 2022 was subjected to challenge by the respondent in Letters Patent Appeal No. 1134 of 2023, which has been dismissed vide judgement and order dated 21.12.2023.

3. On the presentation of the instant appeal, the first issue raised by the learned counsel for the respondent is about the entertainability of the instant appeal, in view of the aforesaid decision in the Letters Patent Appeal No. no.1134 of 2023 which arose out of the connected matter, namely Special Civil Application No. 11197 of 2022. The learned counsel for the respondents herein, i.e., the original petitioners, would submit that this Letters Patent Appeal is also to meet the same fate.

4. Mr. Baiju Joshi, learned counsel for the appellant has taken us through the record of the writ petition, namely Special Civil Application No. 11194 of 2022, to place the stand of the respondent No.1, namely the appellant herein in its affidavit before the learned Single Judge and the relevant facts of the matter to submit that the judgement and order dated 10.07.2023 passed by the learned Single Judge, in dismissing of the Lavad Suit No.134 of 2022 filed by the appellant herein on the ground of maintainability under Section 96 of the Gujarat Co-Operative Societies Act, 1961 (in short as the Act’ 1961”), cannot be sustained.

5. The submission is that, insofar as, the challenge to the interim order dated 18.06.2022 passed by the Board of Nominees restraining the petitioners to vote from Chhotaudepur constituency in the election of the respondent No.2, namely the Gujarat State Co-operative Marketing Society Limited (the federal society), the appellant herein is not raising any dispute, inasmuch as, the learned Single Judge was justified in holding that when the election process was on, the Board of Nominees was not justified in passing the interim order, which amounted to overreaching the election process. The submission is that the said observations of the learned Single Judge that appropriate proceedings for challenging the election is before the Election Tribunal in view of Section 145U of the Act’ 1961, is also not subject to the challenge in the present appeal.

6. The challenge in the instant appeal is confined to the observations made by the learned Single Judge that the Lavad Suit preferred by appellant herein is to be dismissed as the Board of Nominees has no jurisdiction to try such suit. The submission is that though the challenge to the election or the participation of the petitioners in the election of the federal society may not be sustained, but the issues raised by the appellant in the Lavad Suit No.134 of 2022 was beyond the election.

7. The plaint of the Lavad Suit No.134 of 2022 was placed before us to demonstrate that the appellant/applicant has filed the suit raising a question with regard to the constitution and management of the federal society, namely the respondent No.2, being a member of the said society.

8. It is placed before us that the appellant society namely the respondent No.1 in the original petition, namely Jetpur Group Vividh Karyakari Seva Sahakari Mandli Limited has raised the issue before the learned Single Judge that the writ petition Special Civil Application No. 11194 of 2022 has been filed by suppression of material facts. The respondent No.1, namely Satpal Dharamdas Patel herein is the Chairman of all 16 societies, impleaded as petitioner Nos.2 to 17 in the writ petition. The affidavit dated 24.06.2022 filed by the appellant in the writ petition as respondent No.1 has been placed before us to demonstrate th