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Judgment
Heard Shri S. Rupachandra, the learned Senior Advocate appearing for the petitioner; Shri Y. Ashang, the learned Additional Government Advocate appearing for the State respondents and Shri K. Rabei, the learned counsel appearing for the respondent Nos. 3, 4 and 5.
In this writ petition, the validity and correctness of the Bye-Law No.23(1) and Notification dated 01-06-2017 are being questioned and prayers have been made to quash the same and also to direct the respondents and in particular, the respondent Nos. 2 to 4 to amend the Bye-Law No. 23(1).
1. The petitioner is a Society (hereinafter referred to as "the Society") registered under the provisions of the Manipur Societies Registration Act, 1976 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act, 1976") which is a member of the Manipur State Co-operative Union, respondent No. 3 (hereinafter referred to as "the Union") formed by the registered Co-operative Societies from different areas in the Hill and Valley districts of Manipur. 3.2. The holding of election of the Managing Body of the Union is governed by the provisions of the Act, 1976 and the rules made thereunder as well as the Bye-Laws of the Union. The term of the Union is for a period of five years and altogether, there are 21 (twenty-one) members and as per the Bye-Laws of the Union, these 21 members are to be either elected or nominated or represented from amongst the co-operative Societies to constitute a Managing Body which are indicated as under:-
(a) 1 nominee from the office of Registrar, Co-operative Societies.
(b) 1 representative from amongst the Apex Co-operative organisation affiliated to the Union.
(c) The Chief Executive Officer/Ex-Officio Member.
(d) 1 representative of the Association of staff of the Union.
(e) 5 elected representative member societies, 1 (one) each from 5 hills districts.
(f) 8 elected representatives members Societies, 2 (two) each from 4 valley districts.
(g) 1 Reserved seat for Scheduled Tribes or Scheduled Castes member societies.
(h) 2 Reserved seats from among women member societies.
(i) 1 Reserved seat for small farmer society.
3.3. The concerned authority published a list of Societies/ delegates including the Society and in the said list, there are 87 members including the members of Pherzawl District. The Society is clubbed with that of the Churachandpur District, although the Society falls within the jurisdiction of the Pherzawl District. Without any amendment being made in the Bye- Laws, the authorities notified for election of the Managing Body on 01-06-2017 informing that the election be held on 16-06-2017. Being aggrieved by the said notification, the instant writ petition has been filed by the petitioner on the following grounds:-
(i) For that, since the Petitioner Society belong to Pherzawl District, its name should not be clubbed together with Churachandpur District.
(ii) For that, the Petitioner Society must be included as a member society/ delegate of Pherzawl District in the Managing Body of Management Committee of Manipur State Cooperative Union since it is now a full-fledged hill district.
(iii) For that, the amendment of Bye-laws, election rules are necessitated by virtue of increase of number of hill and valley districts from 9 to 16 presently.
(iv) For that, before such amendment of Bye-Laws and justification for reasonable representation from each and every district as required the election of Managing Body of Manipur State Cooperative Union is not to have been notified and materialized.
(v) For that, the election notification as well as Bye-Law No. 23(1) are not justifiable in as much as the mode and manner prescribed for election is as per 9 districts version but presently 16 districts prevail in the State of Manipur which forfeits the right of the petition society.
(vi) For that, until and unless the said election notification and Bye-Law are No. 23(1) interfered by this Hon''ble Court, there shall be a great prejudice and harm to the right of the Petitioner Society.
(vii) For that, the impugned election notification never specifies from which hill district, the 5 members 1 each from district are to be elected.
The stand of the State respondents as indicated in their affidavit-in-opposition filed by the Deputy Secretary (Co-op.), Government of Manipur, is that the authorities prepared the updated list of the Societies on the basis of the existing Bye-Laws of the Union and since there is no enabling provision in the Bye-laws for incorporating therein the seven new districts created recently, certain processes are required to be completed for bifurcating the said new districts and thereafter only, the necessary amendment of the Bye-Laws ought to follow. Mention may be made that before bifurcating the existing Co-operative Societies into district-wise, the offices of the District Co-operative Officer are to be established by the State Government. The amendment of Bye-law of the Union is to be made by the General Body in its meeting and since the term of the Board of Administrators had expired on 23-06-2017, there is no competent authority to convene a General Body Meeting for transacting any agenda including the completion of the election process. Unless and until, the election process is over and a new Managing Body is installed, the process for amendment of the Bye-laws cannot be initiated at all. Under the existing Bye-laws, only 9 districts are recognised and the new districts are yet to be incorporated in the list of the Union. In fact, 80% of the process of election is over and in view of the order dated 14-06-2017 passed by this court in WP(C) No. 420 of 2017, the election scheduled to be held on 16-06-2017 has been postponed sine die and in the meantime, the term of the incumbent Board of Administrators had expired on 23-06-2017. The continuation of the election process will not affect the right and interest of the Society, as it has a right to exercise its voting right in the election as a bonafide member of the Union. An affidavit-in-opposition has been filed on behalf of the respondent Nos. 3, 4 & 5 taking a similar stand as that of the State respondents wherein it is stated that under the existing Bye-laws, there is no provision of incorporating the newly created districts unless the existing Bye-laws is amended and the election of the Managing Body is to be held on the basis of the existing Bye-laws and other relevant rules. Since there is no declaration of the office of the District Co-operative Officer, no bifurcation has been done. The amendment of Bye-laws will have to be done only after the declaration is made by the State Government. The question of deprivation of the Society''s right does not arise, as it is given the right to cast vote as a member of the Union.
The Union is a Union whose membership is opened to every registered Society in the State of Manipur. A member society may by resolution of its Managing Committee or Managing Body or Board of Directors nominate a delegate to the Union and the nomination made by the member Society shall normally be valid for a term of three years unless otherwise withdrawn by the Society. The supreme authority of the Union shall vest in the General Body and the management of the affairs of the Union shall vest in a Managing Body constituted in the manner as provided in Bye-Law 23 (1). Bye-Law 23(1)(e) provides that one representative from each of the hill districts, having affiliated at least 10 societies each to the Union, shall be the member of the Managing Body and the same is the case with the valley districts with the only difference that in respect of the valley districts, each of the four districts ought to have 20 Societies being affiliated to the Union. The number of representatives of these districts - hill or valley shall be increased at the rate mentioned therein. Under Bye-law 14(2)(e), it is the General Body which is empowered to elect members of the Managing Body of the Union from amongst the representatives of the General Body. The expression "Board" is defined in Section 3A of the Manipur Co-operative Societies Act, 1976 as amended in 2013 means a Board of Directors or the governing body of a co-operative society, by whatever name called, to which the direction and control of the management of the affairs of the Society is entrusted. Section 73(2) provides that the term of office of the elected members of the Board and its office bearers shall be five years from the date of election. Section 73(3) provides that the election of a Board of a Co-operative Society shall be conducted before one month of the expiry of the term of the Board so as to ensure that the newly elected members of the Board assume office immediately on the expiry of the office of the members of the outgoing Board.
The subject-matter in issue relates to holding of an election of the members of the Managing Body and it is not in dispute that the election of the members of the Managing Body is to be held in accordance with the provisions of the Act and the rules made thereunder as well as the Bye-laws of the Union. The case of the petitioner is that after seven new districts having been created by the State Government, the election of the members of the Managing Body is to be held only after the Bye-laws is amended, in a general body meeting, with respect to modification of the constitution of the Managing Body so that a representative from Pherzawl district could be sent as the member of the Managing Body. On the other hand, the stand of the State Government is that although seven new districts having been created, certain formalities are yet to be completed by the State Government for bifurcating the districts and in particular, the bifurcation of the offices of the District Co-operative Officers. The amendment of the Bye-laws is possible only after the bifurcation as aforesaid having been completely done by the State Government. Moreover, the amendment of the Bye-laws of the Union is to be made by the General Body in its General Body Meeting and since the term of the Board of Administrators had expired on 23-06-2017, there is no competent authority to convene a General Body Meeting for transacting any agenda including the completion of the election process. In view of the aforesaid circumstances, the State Government moved an application being MC [WP(C)] No.153 of 2017 praying for allowing them to extend the term of the Board of Administrators so as to enable it to complete the process of election of the new Managing Body. In the said application, it has been stated that after the expiry of the term of the Managing Body, the State Government appointed five persons as the Board of Administrators for a period of six months with a specific direction to elect the members of the Managing Body but as they could not complete the same in view of the order dated 14-06-2017 passed by this court, the term of the Board of Administrators had expired and there is no any provision in the Act empowering the State Government to extend further the term of the Board of Administrators.
The immediate need and requirement of the Union is to hold the election of the members of the Managing Body so that it can start functioning and managing the Union. The whole controversy appears to have arisen because the election of the Managing Body was not held in time as prescribed under the provisions of the Act and the Bye-laws. What the law provides is that one month prior to the expiry of the term of the Managing Body, the process of election was to be initiated but in the present case, the former Managing Body appears to have failed to do that, as a result of which the State Government was compelled to appoint five persons as the Board of Administrators for a period of six months vide Government order dated 24-12-2016. However, there is no material on record to show as to what the Board of Administrators had been doing from 24-12-2016 till 01-06-2017 when a notification was issued fixing the date of election as 16-06-2017 except stating in the affidavit of the State Government that 80% of the election process is completed. The short question that arises for consideration by this court is to what direction can be given by this court in the facts and circumstances of the present case. It is not in dispute that seven new districts have been created by the State of Manipur and certain follow-up actions as regards providing the infrastructure, manpower, determination of boundary etc. including the bifurcation of the offices of the District Co-operative Societies Officer, are yet to be taken by the State Government. It may be noted that it is a matter of policy, the implementation of which will take some time and this court cannot interfere with it and consequently, the Bye-laws cannot be amended by the General Body incorporating therein the new districts for purpose of constitution of the Managing Body pending finalisation of the bifurcation as aforesaid. At the same time, the election of the new Managing Body cannot be deferred indefinitely bringing the administration and the management of the Society at halt. Keeping in mind the interest of the members of the Union and in order to run the administration of the Union smoothly, the holding of election of the new Managing Body is a must. The only option left with the Union is to hold the election of the new Managing Body in accordance with the existing Bye-Laws and the Society will continue to enjoy its right as a member of the Union. As has been submitted hereinabove, the recognition of the Pherzawl as a district as regards the constitution of the Managing Body, is not possible for the time being for the reason that it has not been made a full-fledged district for all aspects. In other words, the Pherzawl district appears to have not become a district for all practical purposes. Then, the ancillary question that arises for consideration by this court, is as to whom the task of holding the election be entrusted by this court. In any case, the election cannot be held by the former Managing Body for the reason that after its term having expired, five persons were appointed as the Board of Administrators whose term also had expired before the completion of the election process. The only thing that can be done at this moment, is that the task of holding election be entrusted either to the Registrar of the Co-operative Societies or to the Board of Administrators who had commenced the process of election. Having considered the overall facts and circumstances of the case, this court is of the view that the ends of justice will be met, if the Registrar of Co-operative Societies, Manipur is entrusted with the task of completing the process of election within a reasonable time keeping in mind the submission of the State Government that it has no power, under the provisions of the Act and the rules made thereunder, to extend the term of the said Board of Administrators. In view of this stand of the State Government, it may be noted that any order passed by this court entrusting the Board of Administrators with the task of holding the election may be contrary to the provisions of the Act. While conducting the election, it is open to the Registrar of the Co-operative Societies to take the assistance of its subordinates.
For the reasons stated hereinabove, the instant writ petition is disposed of with the following directions:-
(a) The Registrar of Co-operative Societies, Manipur shall go ahead with process of election in accordance with the provisions of the Act and the rules made thereunder as well as the existing Bye-Laws of the Union and complete the same within a period of 45 days from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment and order;
(b) All the members of the Union namely, all the Co-operative Societies registered under the provisions of the Act shall extend their co-operation to ensure that the process of election is completed within the time granted by this court and the Managing Body is duly installed thereafter.