Md Aklas Uddin v. The State of Assam and 13 Ors

ORDER

08.05.2023 Heard Mr. P.K. Barman, learned counsel for the petitioner, who submits that the petitioner is a member of the Gandhigram Samabhai Samittee Ltd. The respondent Nos. 5 & 6 published notice dated 25.04.2023 informing the members of the Samittee Ltd. about the holding of election on 10.05.2023 to the 15 members Board of Directors of the said Samittee for a period of 5 years w.e.f. 2023 – 2028. After going through the voter list dated 10.05.2023, the petitioner found that the names of the respondent Nos. 7 and 12 had been illegally entered into the Part-I voter list of 2022-2023, while the actual members were still alive. Further, the respondent Nos. 13 & 14, who were outsiders, were illegally inserted in Part-II voter list of 2022-2023, by replacing the actual voters pertaining to Part-II voter list of 2021 – 2022. He accordingly submits that the notice dated 25.04.2023 issued by the respondent Nos. 5 & 6 should be set aside. Further, there should be a correction to the Part-I and Part-II voter list of 2022 – 2023 by deleting the names of the respondent Nos. 7 to 14.

¶2Mr. S.K. Talukdar, ,learned counsel for the respondent Nos. 1, 2, 3 & 4 submits that any dispute relating to the election in a Cooperative Society should be submitted within three days from the date of declaration of the results, before the election Page No.# 5/7 authority in terms of Rule 27 of the Assam Cooperative Societies Election Rules, 2019 (herein after referred to as "2019 Rules"). He submits that upon submission of any election petition, the election authority shall make an enquiry upon the dispute and pass necessary orders. He submits that unless the election is allowed to continue, various petitions would come up time and again in different matters thereby stalling the process of election. As there is a mechanism to resolve the issue raised by the petitioner, the issue raised by the petitioner can be decided by the authority after the election is conducted and prior to any approval being given by the Registrar and his Officers to the election/AGM to be held on 10.05.2023.

¶3On considering the submissions made by the counsels, this Court is of the view that the issue raised by the petitioner pertains to disputed questions of fact. The grievance of the petitioner with regard to the voters in the Part-I and Part-II voter list of 2022 – 2023 is made in para No. 5 of the writ petition, which is as follows:- "PART-I Sl.No. Part-I Voter list of 2021 - 2022 Sl.No

Part I Voter list of 2022-23 Illegal inclusion of names Sri. Kishor Kumar Sinha S/o Late Kamar Sinha Smti. Sukla Sinha, W/o Sri. Kishor Kumar Sinha 1054 Sri. Arabinda Baishnab S/o Late Harlal Baishnab 1054 Sri. Sourab Baishnab S/o Late Harlal Baishnab 1473 Smti. Chaya Rani Paul, W/o Late Sudhindra Paul 1437 Sri. Suprajit Paul, S/o Late Sudhindra Paul 1626 Sri. Laxmi Mangal Chakraborty, 1626 Sri. Binayak Chakraborty S/o Laxmi Mangal Page No.# 6/7 S/o Late Bidyut Chakraborty Chakraborty, 1778 Sri. Agur Basi Das, S/o Krishna Das 1778 Sri. Jayanta Das, S/o Late Jyotish Ch Das 2546 Sri. Ananda Ram Roy, S/o Gorai Namasudra 2546 Sri. Ashim Kumar Roy S/o Sri. Ananda Ram Roy

Part - II Sl.No Part-II Voter list of 2021 - 2022 Sl.No Part – II Voter list of 2022 – 2023 Illegal inclusion of outsiders names Sri. Nishit Das, S/o Niranjan Das Sri. Sourab Das, S/o Late Samiran Das Sri. Sajal Das S/o Kunja Mohan Das Sri. Rajesh Das, S/o Late Rajendra Das

¶4On considering the fact that the election is to be held in two days time, this Court is not inclined to stay the election to be held under the aegis of the election authority, i.e., the Registrar or his representatives. Accordingly, the election to the Board of Director of the Gandhigram Samabhai Samittee Ltd. is allowed to be held on

10.05.2023. However, the Registrar, i.e., the respondent No. 2 and respondent No. 3 shall not give any approval to the election/AGM to be held on 10.05.2023, prior to deciding the grievance of the petitioner in terms of Rule 27 of the 2019 Rules. The petitioner will accordingly submit a representation along with this writ petition with regard to his grievance, before the respondent No. 2 between 11.05.2023 and

13.05.2023. Page No.# 7/7

¶5Thereafter, till a decision is taken by the respondent No. 2 with regard to the grievance of the petitioner in his representation, the AGM/elected body will not be given the seal of approval by the respondent Nos. 2 & 3. The Departmental Officers will run the society till a decision is taken by the competent authority.

¶6Writ petition is accordingly disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/7 GAHC010096062023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/2439/2023o MDoAKLASoUDDINo S/OoARMANoALIo VILL-oDARGARBOND,oVTC,oDALOOoPART-IIo P.O.oMUKTARANPURo DIST.oKARIMGANJ,oASSAMo PIN-788150 VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo13oORSo REP.oBYoTHEoADDITIONALoCHIEFoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,o CO-OPERATIONoDEPARTMENT,o DISPUR,oGUWAHATI-781006. 2:THEoREGISTRAR oCO-OPERATIVEoSOCIETIES oASSAM o KHANAPARA oGUWAHATI-781022 3:THEoASSISTANToREGISTRAR oCO-OPERATIVEoSOCIETIES oRAMKRISHNAoNAGAR o KARIMGANJ oASSAMo PIN-788166 4:THEoRETURNINGoOFFICER PageoNo.#o2/7 oGANDHIGRAMoCO-OPERATIVEoSOCIETYoLTD.oP.O.oNETAJIoNAGAR o DIST.oKARIMGANJ oASSAM oPIN-788166 5:THEoPRESIDENT oGANDHIGRAMoCO-OPERATIVEoSOCIETY oP.O.oNETAJIoNAGAR o DIST.oKARIMGANJ oASSAMo PIN-788166 6:THEoSECRETARY oGANDHIRAMoCO-OPERATIVEoSOCIETY oP.O.oNETAJIoNAGAR o DIST.oKARIMGANJ oASSAMo PIN-788166 7:SMT.oSUKLAoSINHA oW/OoSRIoKISHORoKUMARoSINHAo VILL-oGORARBONDo P.O.oNETAJIoNAGAR o DIST.oKARIMGNAJ oASSAMo PIN-788166 8:SRIoSOURAVoBAISHNAB oS/OoLATEoHARLALoBAISHNABo VILL-oBISHNUPURo P.O.oNETAJIoNAGAR o DIST.oKARIMGANJ oASSAMo PIN-788166 9:SRIoSWAPNAJIToPAUL oS/OoSRIoSUDHINDRAoPAULo VILLoANDoP.O.oNETAJIoNAGAR o DIST.oKARIMGNAJ PageoNo.#o3/7 oASSAMo PIN-788166 10:SRIoBINAYAKoCHAKRABORTY oS/OoSRIoLAXMIoMANGALoCHAKRABORTYo VILL-oGANDHINAGAR o P.O.oNETAJIoNAGAR o DIST.oKARIMGNAJ oASSAMo PIN-788166 11:SRIoJAYANTAoDAS oS/OoLATEoJYOTISHoCH.oDASo VILL-oKALIBARIoBAZARo P.O.oNETAJIoNAGAR o DIST.oKARIMGNAJ oASSAMo PIN-788166 12:SRIoASHIMoKUMARoROY oS/OoSRIoANANDAoRAMoROYo VILL-oMANIKNAGARo P.O.oNETAJIoNAGAR o DIST.oKARIMGNAJ oASSAMo PIN-788166 13:SRIoSAURABoDAS oS/OoLATEoSAMIRANoDASo KALINAGARoGRAMoPANCHAYATo RAMKRISHNAoNAGARoCO-OPERATIVEoSOCIETY o DIST.oKARIMGANJ oASSAMo PIN-788166 14:SRIoRAJESHoDAS oS/OLATEoRAJENDRAoDASo GAMARIAoGRAMoPANCHAYATo VILL-oNABINoGRAMo DIST.oKARIMGANJ oASSAMo PIN-78816o Page No.# 4/7 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. P K BARMAN Advocate for the Respondent : SC, CO OP BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MICHAEL ZOTHANKHUMA