The main legal point established in the judgment is the reliance on the alternate statutory remedy available under Section 69(3) of the Act for resolving election-related disputes, as well as the court's emphasis on the need to adhere to the statutory provisions and precedents set by the Supreme Court.

Chitambaresh, J.

1. The Kerala Co-operative Societies Act, 1969 is referred to as 'the Act' and the Kerala Cooperative Societies Rules, 1969 is referred to as 'the Rules' hereafter. All these writ petitions challenge the various steps taken in the conduct of an election to the Managing Committee of a bank and are hence bunched together. The matter comes on a reference by a learned single Judge when there was a hitch to conduct the election in spite of the direction by another Division Bench.

2. The election to the Managing Committee of Thiruvalla East Co-operative Bank Ltd. No. 3260 ('the bank' for short) was slated on 05.11.2016 as per the calendar. The preliminary voters list published contained 611 members whereas the final voters list published had only 28 members disabling an election even. This is because the number fell short of 50 members necessary to constitute a quorum for a General Meeting as per clause 22 of the bye-laws of the bank. An Annual General body Meeting is to be convened in the prescribed manner for the purpose of election too as per Section 29(1)(b) of the Act. No election could have been conducted even if all the 28 members were present in the General body Meeting convened to conduct the election to the Managing Committee. It was at this juncture did this Court intervene and direct the election to go on as scheduled subject to riders by an interim order dated 01.11.2016. The full text of the interim order is reported in Cherian Eapen v. Managing Committee, Thiruvalla East Co-operative Bank, Pathanamthitta [2016 (5) KHC 486]. Its operative part is as follows:

"Interest of justice would be met by directing the election to go on as scheduled permitting all the 611 members aforesaid to cast their vote in the election to the managing committee. The same would however be provisional and subject to these writ petitions and also the invocation of Section 69 of the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act."

It is conceded that the election to the managing committee accordingly took place on 05.11.2016 even while steps were afoot to challenge the aforesaid interim order before the Supreme Court.

3. The Supreme Court in Special Leave Petitions filed by the Joint Registrar of Cooperative Societies (General) and others initially passed an interim order dated 11.11.2016. Its operative part is as follows:

"Looking at the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, it is directed that by way of interim order an Administrative Committee shall be formed which shall consist of one Government Official, who will be the Chairman of the Committee and the President as well as the Secretary of the Society shall be the members of the said committee.

The Administrative Committee shall perform day-to-day work of the Co-operative Society and shall not take any policy decision."

The Special Leave Petitions ripened into Civil Appeals which were eventually disposed of after taking note of the subsequent developments by judgment dated 05.12.2016. Its operative part is as follows:

"Though several contentions are taken by the parties, we do not propose to go into the merits of the matter since the writ petitions are pending before the High Court. Since by the time this Court passed the order dated 11.11.2016, a Managing Committee had already been elected on 05.11.2016, we dispose of these appeals permitting the committee elected on 05.11.2016 to manage the affairs of the Society for the time being, on a provisional basis with the rider that the said committee shall only perform the day-today work of the Co-operative Society and shall not take any policy decision, till the writ petitions are disposed of."

4. The principal contentions urged in the writ petitions mainly challenging the correctness of the voters list and the validity of the election can be summarised as follows:

(i) No final voters list was published in accordance with Rule 35A(4) of the Rules;

(ii) The final voters list is at any rate not in accordance with Rule 18A of the Rules;