Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

2026 Supreme(Online)(Del) 871

IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Prathiba M. Singh, Madhu Jain, JJ
NTPC Employees Cooperative Group Housing Society Ltd. – Appellant
Versus
Registrar Cooperative Societies – Respondent
W.P.(C) 18454/2025 | CM APPL. 76427/2025

Advocates:
For the Appellants/Petitioners: D.K. Rustogi
For the Respondents: Shubham Gupta, Urvi Mohan

Courts are generally reluctant to exercise writ jurisdiction to stay ongoing election processes once the electoral schedule has significantly progressed, preserving the rights of parties to challenge the process post-facto.

Headnote:The present petition is filed under Art. 226 and Art. 227 of the Constitution of India challenging an order passed by the Registrar Cooperative Societies regarding the conduct of elections for a cooperative housing society. The petitioner sought an interim stay on the election process initiated by an appointed Administrator-cum-Returning Officer. The court considered whether it should intervene in an ongoing election process where most procedural steps had already been completed. Emphasizing the sanctity of the electoral schedule and the advanced stage of the process, the court held that it was not inclined to interdict the elections at this stage, while noting that all rights and remedies of the petitioner remain open, with the final election results being subject to the outcome of the writ petition. The writ petition is pending disposal, with the court directing the filing of an amended memo of parties to include the office bearers of the erstwhile managing committee.

Table of Content
1. procedural context of the writ petition challenging election orders. (Para 1 , 2 , 3 , 4)
2. refusal to interdict ongoing election processes at advanced stages. (Para 5 , 6 , 7)
3. procedural directions regarding party impleadment and case listing. (Para 8 , 9 , 10 , 11)

O R D E R

% 08.01.2026

1. This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.

2. The present petition has been filed by the Petitioner Society under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India, inter alia, assailing the order dated 26th September, 2025 passed by the Respondent No.1- Registrar Cooperative Societies, Delhi (hereinafter, ‘RCS’) (hereinafter, ‘impugned order’).

3. The submission on behalf of Mr. Rustogi, ld. Counsel for the Petitioner Society is that the elections called by the Administrator-cum-Returning Officer appointed by the RCS in terms of the impugned order, deserves to be stayed.

4. The Court has perused the agenda notice issued on 10th December, 2025, which has the following schedule for the election:

S.No	Programme	Date	Time	Venue
1.	Issue of Nomination form (Free of Cost)	14.12.2025 (Sunday)	03:00 PM to 05:00 PM	Society Office, the NTPC Employees Coop. Group Housing Society Ltd., Plot No. 10, Sector - 19B, Dwarka, New Delhi - 110075
2.	Filling of Nomination	21.12.2025 (Sunday)	03:00 PM to 05:00 PM
3.	Scrutiny of Nomination	27.12.2025 (Saturday)	02:00 PM to 04:00 PM
4.	Display of Valid Nomination	27.12.2025 (Saturday)	04:00 PM to 05:00 PM
5.	Withdrawal of Nomination	03.01.2026 (Saturday)	03:00 PM to 05:00 PM
6.	Display of final list of Contesting Candidate	03.01.2026 (Saturday)	05:00 AM to 06:00 PM
7.	Polling (If Necessary)	11.01.2026 (Sunday)	11:00 AM to 2:00 PM	Community Hall of the society

5. Almost all the steps for the elections have already taken place as per the schedule and the election is itself due on 11th January, 2026. Considering this position, the Court is not inclined to interdict the elections at this stage.

6. All rights and remedies of the Petitioner are left open in respect of the elections.

7. The elections conducted by the Petitioner Society under the supervision of the Administrator-cum-Returning Officer, appointed by the RCS shall be subject to the outcome of this writ petition.

8. The Management Committee under whose instructions this writ petition had been filed, shall be impleaded as Petitioner in this matter, in their individual capacity.

9. At this stage, it is pointed out by ld. Counsel for the Petitioner that CM APPL. 78568/2025 has been filed by the Petitioner giving names of the President, Secretary and Treasurer who were part of the erstwhile Managing Committee. Accordingly, let an amended memo of parties in terms of paragraph 6 of CM APPL. 78568/2025 be filed within one week from this order.

10. Accordingly, CM APPL. 78568/2025 is disposed of in these terms.

11. List on 27th March, 2026.

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2026 Supreme(Online)(Del) 871

IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHIPrathiba M. Singh, Madhu Jain, JJNTPC Employees Cooperative Group Housing Society Ltd. – AppellantVersusRegistrar Cooperative Societies – RespondentW.P.(C) 18454/2025 | CM APPL. 76427/2025

Courts are generally reluctant to exercise writ jurisdiction to stay ongoing election processes once the electoral schedule has significantly progressed, preserving the rights of parties to challenge the process post-facto.

IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Prathiba M. Singh, Madhu Jain, JJ
NTPC Employees Cooperative Group Housing Society Ltd. – Appellant
Versus
Registrar Cooperative Societies – Respondent
W.P.(C) 18454/2025 | CM APPL. 76427/2025