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1994 Supreme(Ker) 252
Judges : K.NARAYANA KURUP
Babu - Appellant
Versus
Joint Registrar - Respondent
Case No : O.P.No.11282 of 1994
Decided On : 08/17/1994
Advocates Appeared :
V.M. Kurian, A.V. Thomas & E.K. Dilraj Govt Pleader {E.S. Mohammed Kabir)
The statutory power of the Registrar to nominate members to the Board of Directors of a cooperative society is not fettered by the society's bye-laws.
Headnote:
Nomination - Cooperative Society - The court held that the Registrar has the power to nominate members to the Board of Directors of a cooperative society, and this power is not fettered by the bye-laws of the society. The bye-laws cannot override the provisions of the Act or Rules, and the minimum period of membership stipulated in the bye-laws for election of shareholder members does not apply to nominations.
Fact of the Case:
The petitioner, President of the cooperative society, challenged the nomination of the 4th respondent to the Board of Directors by the Joint Registrar of Cooperative Societies, citing the lack of qualification based on the bye-laws.
Finding of the Court:
The court dismissed the petition, stating that the Registrar has the statutory power to nominate members to the Board of Directors, and the bye-laws cannot impose restrictions on this power.
Issues: Validity of nomination based on bye-laws and statutory power of the Registrar to nominate members to the Board of Directors.
Ratio Decidendi: The Registrar's power to nominate members to the Board of Directors is not restricted by the bye-laws, and the bye-laws cannot override the provisions of the Act or Rules.
Final Decision: The Original Petition is dismissed.
The petitioner is the President of the third respondent co-operative society. He is aggrieved by Ext. P8 nomination made by the first respondent Joint Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Idukki nominating the 4th respondent to the Board of Directors of the third respondent society. According to the learned counsel for the petitioner, the 4th respondent is not qualified to be elected to the Board of Directors of the third respondent society for the reason that as per clause 30 of the bye-laws governing the affairs of the society, a person should put in a minimum period of two years as a member before he can become eligible to be a member of the Board of Directors of the society. I am afraid, I cannot accede to the contention advanced by the learned counsel for the petitioner for more than one reason. The first reason is that under S.28A sub-clause 3(ii) the Registrar is vested with power to nominate a woman member or a member belonging to the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes to the committee of such Bank or society, if necessary, by increasing the total number of members of such committee by two more members. On a perusal of the said section, I do not find any fetter imposed on the power of the Registrar to make nomination to the Board of Directors of a co-operative society. So long as there is no fetter in the Act, a letter cannot be introduced by the bye-laws. The bye-laws have no force of law and, at any rate, it cannot over-ride the provisions of the Act or Rules. The next reason is that even the bye-laws does not stipulate the minimum period of two years in order to become eligible for being nominated to the Board of Directors of a society. Clause 30(i) of the bye-laws stipulates the condition regarding membership of at least two years prior to the date of election only in the case of election of a shareholder member and it has nothing to do with nomination, which according to me, is a statutory power vested exclusively on the Registrar.
2. In the above view of the matter, I do not find any infirmity in Ext. P8 order passed by the first respondent Joint Registrar of Co-operative Societies and the Original Petition is only to be dismissed which is accordingly dismissed.
