$~30 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI Date of decision: 13^th January, 2026 Uploaded on: 15^th January, 2026 + W.P.(C) 9667/2019 and CM APPLs. 6562/2023, 6563/2023, 62857/2024, 15057/2025 &15058/2025 SMT. PRATIBHA RAI AND ANR. .....Petitioners Through: Petitioner No.2 in person versus REGISTRAR OF COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES AND ORS.

.....Respondents Through: Mr. Anubhav Gupta, Panel Counsel(Civil) GNCTD (9910623535)

Mr. Akash Swami, Advocate for R-

2/Jai Diba Society.

CORAM:

JUSTICE PRATHIBA M. SINGH JUSTICE MADHU JAIN Prathiba M. Singh, J. (Oral)

1. This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.

2. The present petition has been filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India by Petitioner No. 1– Ms. Pratibha Rai and Petitioner No. 2– Col. Shri Ram Rai (Retd.), seeking the following reliefs:

“1. The Hon'ble Court may please order to get the audit done by an independent Auditor under the supervision/monitoring of the Hon'ble High Court.

a. As both the MC and RCS have miserably failed in performing their respective statutory duty and have no locus standi (as per DCS Act,2003 and DCS Rules,2007) to have the Audit conducted at this belated stage for the previous two Financial Years, 2016-17 and2017-18 and for the current FY 2018-19 b. That the petitioners be given a chance to appear before the independent auditor appointed by the Hon'ble Court to disclose the facts of wrongdoings by the Managing Committee.

c. The Society is going to get defunct as per Rule 2sub-

Rule (f).”

3. The case of the Petitioners is that the audit of the society named ‘Jai Diba Maa Cooperative Group Housing Society Ltd’., Plot no.11, Sector-5, Dwarka Phase-1, New Delhi-110075 (hereinafter, ‘the Society’), for a consecutive period of three years, has not been conducted and hence, it is prayed on behalf of the Petitioners that the society be declared as a defunct Society.

4. Petitioner No.1, who is the daughter of Petitioner No.2, is a Professor in Delhi University and was a member of the Society. The position as on date is that Petitioner No.1 has already sold off the property that she owned in the Society and neither of the Petitioners live in the Society.

5. The stand of the society is that the Petitioners are no longer members of the Society and thus, have no locus standi to maintain this petition.

6. Petitioner No.2, who is a retired Colonel, is appearing in person before the Court and submits that he is entitled to continue to pray for the Society to be declared defunct, in view of the audit of the Society having not been conducted properly for three consecutive years.

7. Notice in the petition was initially issued on 6^th September, 2019.

Thereafter, pleadings have been completed in the matter.

8. Sometime in the year 2024, a Returning Officer was appointed for conducting the elections of the Society. However, vide order dated 12^th March, 2025, the Court had directed that the declaration of the results of elections, if conducted, be deferred till 19th March, 2025. The said order was passed in the following terms:

“1. We record the contention of Colonel Rai that no notice of the appointment of Mr. T. Tarun as Returning Officer by order dated 15January 2025 as well as of the agenda notice issued by the Society on2 February 2025 by the said Returning Officer has been given to the members of the respondent — Society in accordance with the procedure prescribed in that regard, as per Rules.

2. In that view of the matter, issue notice on these applications to the non-applicants in this petition, returnable on 19 March 2025.

3. Notice may be served on the non-applicants without process fees through Counsel who appeared on their behalf.

4. The authorities conducting the election may consider whether the election can be held thereafter. In the event that the election takes place on the date fixed, we restrain the authorities from declaring the result thereof till 19 March 2025.

5. This order would remain in force only till 19 March 2025 and would abide by further orders to be