29-ASWP-2121-2022.DOC

Ashwini

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

WRIT PETITION NO. 2121 OF 2022

Narayan Dattaram Jadhav

…Petitioner

Versus

The State of Maharashtra & Ors

…Respondents

Mr Anand S Patil, for the Petitioner.

Mr KS Thorat, AGP, for Respondent No.1-State.

Ms Shraddha Pawar, i/b Deelip Bankar Patil, for Respondent No. 2.

Mr Ruturaj Pawar, for Respondent No. 3.

CORAM

G.S. Patel &

Madhav J. Jamdar, JJ.

DATED:

2nd March 2022

PC:-

1.

Heard. The challenge in this Petition is to a failure by 2nd

Respondent, District Cooperative Election O昀케cer, in deciding the

Petitioners’ objection to the preparation of a voters list of the 3rd

Respondent Society. A copy of the objection is at page No. 65.

2.

The Petitioner is a member of the 3rd Respondent society.

There are four points in the representation of objections at page 65.

Only the 昀椀rst is really an objection to the voters list. What the

Petitioner says is that some members do not fall in the de昀椀nition of

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2nd March 2022

ASHWINI

HULGOJI

GAJAKOSH

Digitally signed by

ASHWINI

HULGOJI

GAJAKOSH

Date: 2022.03.03

17:41:25 +0530

29-ASWP-2121-2022.DOC

agriculturists and are therefore ineligible to the members of the 3rd

Respondent society. Ex facie this is not an objection to the

preparation of the voters list at all. It is an objection to the admission

into membership of some persons. It seeks in substance a correction

or recti昀椀cation of the register of members and the ejectment or

disquali昀椀cation of members from continuing to be members of the

3rd Respondent society.

3.

Apart from anything else, this would require individual

members to be joined as Respondent to the Petition. That has not

been done.

4.

Second, it is well settled that membership carries with it

certain obligations but also certain privileges and entitlements.

Among these privileges and entitlements is the right to stand for

elections and the right to vote at elections. If a member is to be

disquali昀椀ed from contesting an election or from voting at a election,

it must be provided speci昀椀cally by the statue.

5.

Membership of the society and the election process are two

distinct things. A voters list is a step in preparation for an election. It

is not possible to attack a voters list preparation by assailing the

membership of a particular Society member. The State election

authority has no power or jurisdiction to decide the question of

membership. That is a dispute between member and member or

member and society and can only be addressed by an authority so

empowered under the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1960

following the procedure under the Act. Speci昀椀cally, such an

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2nd March 2022

29-ASWP-2121-2022.DOC

application would have to be made under Section 11 of the Act to

the Registrar empowered under the Act. It cannot be made to the

Cooperative Election Authority.

6.

The 2nd Respondent passed an order on 10th February 2022.

Mr Patil for the Petitioners says that it is fraudulent, backdated and

so on. All this will raise disputed questions of fact that cannot be

gone into in a Writ Petition but only in a civil suit or other

appropriate proceeding.

7.

Further, the point that Petitioner made in his representation

at page 65 is squarely addressed in point No. 4 of the 10th February

2022 order, where the election o昀케cer has referred to the 16th July

2021 amendment which is operative in respect of elections until 31st

March 2022. This amendment by a proviso removes the statutory

provisions for ineligibility that were earlier provided in the

Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act. The election authority can

only decide whether an existing member is or is not disquali昀椀ed

from voting, not whether he or she is or is not entitled to be a

member in the 昀椀rst place. Thus the election authority has correctly

declined to accept the Petitioner’s representation.

8.

For these reasons we see no merit