Dipak Pegu and 3 Ors v. The State of Assam and 8 Ors

ORDER

23.03.2023 Heard Ms. SG Baruah, learned counsel for the petitioners. Page No.# 4/5

¶2The petitioners, who are 4 in numbers, are shareholders of the Kherkata Cooperative Society Limited, Dhakuakhana in the district of Lakhimpur. The elections for the Board of Directors have been notified, fixing tomorrow i.e. 24.03.2023. The case of the petitioners is that on publication of the voters list, they could detect that there were a number of persons termed as shareholders who had passed away and there were persons whose antecedents were not known and therefore, the petitioners alleged that the elections were sought to be held on the basis of an incorrect voters list which will not give a proper result. The learned counsel therefore submits that while the matter may be examined, the elections scheduled tomorrow i.e. 24.03.2023 may be postponed.

¶3Shri SK Talukdar, learned Standing Counsel, Cooperation Department however submits that though there may be substance in the allegation of the petitioners on the factual aspects regarding the names of deed persons or non-existing persons, the redressal would lie by invoking the provisions of Rule 27 of the Assam Cooperative Societies Election Rules, 2019.

¶4At this stage, the learned counsel for the petitioners, Ms Baruah has submitted that representations are already pending before the appropriate authority.

¶5In view of the above and taking into consideration the provisions of the Rules, this Court is of the opinion that the grievance of the petitioners can be redressed by taking into consideration Rule 27 of the aforesaid Rules. It is accordingly provided that the representations which have already been submitted may be treated to be an election petition. The petitioners are also at liberty to submit fresh petition before the Election Authority within the period specified i.e. three days for redressal of their grievance.

¶6In any case, the representation which is pending or the application which may be filed are required to be disposed of expeditiously and preferably within an outer limit of 2(two) months from the date of receipt of such application. Page No.# 5/5

¶7The writ petition accordingly stands disposed of. JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010065432023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/1705/2023o DIPAKoPEGUoANDo3oORS.o S/O-oHEMAKANTAoPEGU,o R/O-oOUGURIoDANGDHARA,o P.O.-oDHAKUAKHANA,o DIST.-oLAKHIMPUR,oASSAM. 2:oGUPALoDOLEY oS/O-oBHOLANATHoDOLEY o R/O-oNO.o3oAALIMURoDANGDHARA o P.O.-oDHAKUAKHANA o DIST.-oLAKHIMPUR oASSAM. 3:oDIPAKoPATIR oS/O-oRAJIBoPATIR o R/O-oKHAJUWAoMIRI o P.S.-oDHAKUAKHANA o DIST.oLAKHIMPUR oASSAM. 4:oMOHANoMILI oC/O-oBIKESWARoMILI o R/O-oVILL.oKHAJUWAoMIRI o P.O.-oDHAKUAKHANA o PIN-o7870550o PageoNo.#o2/5 DIST.-oLAKHIMPUR oASSAMo VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo8oORS.o REPRESENTEDoBYoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEo GOVERNMENToOFoASSAM,o CO-OPERATIVEoDEPARTMENT,oASSAM,o DISPUR,oGUWAHATI-o781006. 2:THEoREGISTRAR oCO-OPERATIVEoSOCIETIES oASSAM oKHANAPARA oGUWAHATI-o7810022. 3:THEoZONALoJOINToREGISTRAR oCO-OPERATIVEoSOCIETIES oTEZPURoZONE oPIN-o784001 o DIST.-oSONITPUR oASSAM. 4:THEoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oLAKHIMPUR-o787001 o LAKHIMPUR oASSAM. 5:THEoASSISTANToREGISTRARoANDoELECTORALoOFFICER oCO-OPERATIVEoSOCIETIES oASSAM o DHAKUAKHANA-o787055 o DIST.oLAKHIMPUR oASSAM. 6:THEoRETURNINGoOFFICER oBOARDoOFoDIRECTORSoELECTION o KHERKATAoCO-OPERATIVEoSOCIETYoLIMITED oDHAKUAKHANA o DHAKUAKHANA-o787055 Page No.# 3/5 DIST. LAKHIMPUR ASSAM. 7:KHERKATA CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY LIMITED DHAKUAKHANA (REPRESENTED BY ITS PRESIDENT) DHAKUAKHANA- 787055 DIST. LAKHIMPUR ASSAM. 8:DIPEN DOLEY THE PRESIDENT KHERKATA CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY LIMITED DHAKUAKHANA DHAKUAKHANA- 787055 DIST.- LAKHIMPUR ASSAM. 9:RAJIB DOLEY THE SECRETARY KHERKATA CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY LIMITED DHAKUAKHANA DHAKUAKHANA- 787055 DIST.- LAKHIMPUR ASSAM Advocate for the Petitioner : MS. S G BARUAH Advocate for the Respondent : SC, CO OP BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR MEDHI