JUDGMENT

Anil Kshetarpal, J. - By this order, the following writ petitions shall stand disposed of:-

I) Civil Writ Petition No. 170 of 2021

II) Civil Writ Petition No. 173 of 2021

III) Civil Writ Petition No. 176 of 2021, And

IV) Civil Writ Petition No. 198 of 2021

2. Learned counsel representing the parties being common are ad idem that all these writ petitions involve identical questions of fact and law and therefore, the writ petitions, in this bunch, can be conveniently disposed of by a common judgment.

3. Civil Writ Petition No. 170 of 2021 has been filed by 12 multipurpose Co-operative service Societies whereas Civil Writ Petition No. 173 of 2021 has been filed by 6 authorized representatives of the Central Co-operative Banks, who claim to be the elected Directors of the Punjab State Co-operative Bank Limited, Chandigarh -(hereinafter referred to as "the PSCB"). Civil Writ Petition No. 176 of 2021 has been filed by the Kapurthala Central Co-operative Bank and four other Societies whereas Civil Writ Petition No. 198 of 2021 has been filed by six Societies.

4. Through all these writ petitions, the petitioners assail the correctness of the order (29.12.2020) of the Registrar, Co-operative Societies, Punjab, (for short 'RCS') passed while rejecting the objection petitions against the proposed amalgamation the District Central Co-operative Banks (hereinafter referred to as "the DCCB") with PSCB.

5. On 03.12.2018, a proposal submitted to the Cabinet of the State of Punjab for amalgamation of various DCCBs with PSCB, Chandigarh, was approved with the following major objects and reasons for amalgamation:-

"A. Maintenance of Capital to Risk Weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR).

B. Profitability of District Central Co-operative Banks is declining due to shrinking of banking business.

C. Restrict flow of Credit by DCCBs in some areas of Punjab.

D. Extra cost of computerization and other administrative expenses.

E. Scheduled Bank Status when DCCBs are restructured in to one unitary Bank, the bank will have the status of Scheduled Bank.

F. Better tax management The unitary system would provide a space of better tax management against the collective losses of all DCCBs.

G. Better HR Management After unitary structure, better utilization, deployment and the development of human resources can be done properly".

Pursuant to the aforesaid decision of the Cabinet, on 29.12.2018 the RCS requested The Reserve Bank of India (hereinafter referred to as "the RBI") to grant approval to the proposed amalgamation of the 20 DCCBs with PSCB which was ''in principal" granted subject certain conditions and conveyed vide a communication dated 08.06.2020. However, the final approval and the consequential licensing of the branches is still pending with the RBI. The office of the Registrar got published a notice dated 10.06.2020 in two newspapers, namely "the Indian Express" and "Jagbani" inviting the objections, to the proposed amalgamation from any stakeholder, latest by 29.06.2020. The Registrar received 12 sets of objections. Out of 20 DCCBs, the Board of Directors of 14 DCCBs passed a resolution in favour of the amalgamation. The Board of Directors of the PSCB also supported the amalgamation. The General Body of 16 DCCBs also passed resolutions in favour of the amalgamation whereas 4 DCCBs did not support the amalgamation. On 29.12.2020, the RCS, after hearing the concerned parties, has rejected the objections by an order which is being impugned in these writ petitions.

6. Before this Bench proceeds to examine the arguments of learned counsel representing the parties, it would be appropriate to take note of certain relevant provisions of the Constitution of India, The Punjab Co-operative Societies Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as "the 1961 Act") and the Bye-laws of PSCB.

Article 31A(1)(c) and 43(B) of the Constitution of India read as under:-

"31A. Saving of laws providing for acquisition of estates, etc.-(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in article 13, no law prov