1. The petitioners are the directors of Balasaheb Desai Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Limited, a Co - operative society registered under the Maharashtra Co - operative Societies Act, 1960 ("the Act"). By this writ petition they seek to challenge the legality of the order of the Additional Chief Secretary to the Government of Maharashtra, Co - operation and Textile Department dated 7 January, 1994 dismissing the appeal of the petitioners against the order of the Director of Sugar (Administration) and Additional Registrar of the Co - operative Societies, Maharashtra dated 20 November, 1993 by which in exercise of the powers under S.77A(b) and S.77A(c) of the Co - operative Societies Act, the Board of Directors of the society comprising of the petitioners was dismissed and in their place, the Joint Director (Sugar) (Administration) was appointed as the Administrator.

2. The material facts of the case relevant for the determination of the controversy raised in this writ petition are as follows :
The Board of Directors of the Society consists of 15 directors of which 11 are elected from amongst the members, 2 are representative of workers, one is co - opted as expert director and one is the re