Abul Kalam Azad and 5 Ors v. The State of Assam and 21 Ors

ORDER Date : 23.06.2023

Heard Mr. M. Rana, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. S.K. Talukdar, learned standing counsel for the Cooperative Department appearing for the respondent nos. 1, 2, 3 and 5, Ms. M. Barman, learned Govt. advocate Page No.# 4/6 appearing for the respondent no.4.

¶2In view of the nature of order proposed to be passed, issuance of notice on the private respondent nos. 6 to 22 are dispensed with.

¶3It may be mentioned that a similar matter was disposed of by this Court by order dated 13.06.2023 in WP(C) 1323/2022 and as there was every possibility that inconsistent orders may come in Court, this matter was listed along with the disposed of records of WP(C) 1323/2022 so that the counsel for the petitioner in the said WP(C) 1323/2022 is also heard.

¶4Mr. D. Bora, learned counsel appearing on behalf of Mr. S. Banik, learned counsel for the petitioner in WP(C) 1323/2022.

¶5By filing this writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner has assailed the election of Dakshin Baguribari SS Ltd., held on

05.06.2023. It is alleged that the said election was mired with various anomalies for which objections were raised. However, the Returning Officer did not consider the objections and continued with the election. Therefore, the petitioner had filed written complaint before the Deputy Commissioner and Asst. Registrar of Cooperative Society, Barpeta. However, as no action was taken, the present writ petition has been filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

¶6The Court finds that as there is an election dispute, the appropriate Page No.# 5/6 authority to adjudicate the election disputes is the Registrar of Cooperative Society as per Rule 27 of the Assam Cooperative Society Election Rules, 2019. Therefore, it would be appropriate to relegate the petitioner to approach the election authority.

¶7However, it may be mentioned that in connection with the WP(C) 1323/2022, this Court by order dated 13.06.2023 had observed as follows: "4. In view of the contents of the notification dated 27.01.2022, issued by the Additional Chief Secretary to the Govt. of Assam, Cooperation Department, the Court is inclined to observe that the intention of the Govt. was to exempt the societies from operation of section 39 and 41(2) of the 2007 Act. However, by the time the notification was issued, the exemption granted had already expired. Under such circumstances, the Court is inclined to provide that the non-holding of AGM and/or elections by the petitioner nos.1 and 2 societies, namely, (1) Dakshin Baguribari Samabay Samity Ltd., and (2) Paschim Sarukhetri Samabay Samity Ltd. shall not be construed to have disqualified the present Board of Directors to participate in the next elections. However, it is provided that the elections would be held by the authorities assigned by the Registrar of Cooperative Societies to hold such elections, which would be done departmentally within an outer period of 50 days from today, which is inclusive of 5 (five) days time to the petitioners to produce certified copies of this order before the competent authorities, giving them 45 days period of time to hold such election."

¶8It appears that the elections which were already held on 05.06.2023 was not brought to the notice of the Court perhaps inadvertently, when the previous writ petition was heard. Therefore, the only way to reconcile the previous order with the present case is to relegate the petitioner to approach the election authority in an appropriate manner and on such dispute being raised, the said Page No.# 6/6 authority shall hear the concerned parties on the objection raised against the election held on 05.06.2023 and pass appropriate orders thereon.

¶9Accordingly, if the Registrar of Cooperative Society holds that the election was proper, then there will be no requirement of the fresh election to be held pursuant to order dated 13.06.2023 passed in WP(C) 1323/2022.

¶10Nonetheless, if the Registrar of Cooperative Society holds that the elections were not appropriately held, in that event the competent authorities under the Registrar of Cooperative Society would proceed to hold election as permitted by hereinbefore referred order dated 13.06.2023 passed in WP(C) 1323/2022.

¶11Let a copy of this order be retained in the records of WP(C) 1323/2022.

¶12To the extent as indicated above, this writ petition stands disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/6 GAHC010135562023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/3609/2023o ABULoKALAMoAZADoANDo5oORSo S/OoLT.oMOKSEDoALIoR/OoVILL.oPUBoMAHACHARAoP.O.oANDoP.So KACHUMARAoDIST.oBARPETAoPINo781127oASSAM 2:oHASMAToALI oS/OoLT.oASTULLAoR/OoVILL.oKACHUMARAoNCoP.O.oANDoP.SoKACHUMARAo DIST.oBARPETAoPINo781127oASSAM 3:oABULoHUSSAIN oS/OoNOSIMoUDDINoR/OoVILL.oPUBoMAHACHARAoP.O.oANDoP.So KACHUMARAoDIST.oBARPETAoPINo781127oASSAM 4:oAMINULoISLAM oS/OoABUoSAYEDoMONDALoR/OoVILL.oKACHUMARAoNoCoP.O.oANDoP.So KACHUMARAoDIST.oBARPETAoPINo781127oASSAM 5:oSHAHARoALI oS/OoBABARoALIoR/OoVILL.oCHANGBANDAoP.O.oANDoP.SoKACHUMARAoDIST. BARPETAoPINo781127oASSAM 6:oJOHORoALI oS/OoAKABBARoALIoR/OoVILL.oKACHIMPURoP.O.oANDoP.SoKACHUMARAo DIST.oBARPETAoPINo781127oASSAo VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo21oORSo REP.oBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAMo COPOPERATIVEoDEPTT.oDISPURoGUWAHATIo6 2:REGISTERoOFoCOoOPERATIVEoSOCIETYo oASSAM oKHANAPARAoGUWAHATIo22 PageoNo.#o2/6 3:ARCSoOFoCOoOPERATIVEoSOCIETY oBARPETA oP.O.oANDoDIST.oBARPETAoPINo781301 4:THEoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oBARPETA oP.O.oANDoDIST.oBARPETAoPINo781301 5:THEoRETURNINGoOFFICERoCOoOPERATIVEoSOCIETIES oBARPETA 6:NURoMOHAMMAD oPRESIDENToDAKHINoBAGORIBARIoG.P.S.S.oLTD 7:SHEIKHoABDULLAHoWAHEDI oSECRETARYoDAKHINoBAGORIBARIoG.P.S.S.oLTDoPINo781127 8:ABDULoHANNAN oS/OoLT.oKITAoPALIoBHUYANoR/OoKASHIMPURoP.O.oANDoP.S.oKACHUMARAo DIST.oBARPETAoPINo781127 9:ABDULoMAJID oS/OoLT.oKITAPAIoBHUYANoR/OoVILL.oSHIMULBARIoP.O.oANDoP.S.o KACHUMARAoDIST.oBARPETAoPINo781127 10:ABDURoRASHID oS/OoAKBARoALIoR/OoVILL.MAHACHARAoP.O.oANDoP.S.oKACHUMARAoDIST.o BARPETAoPINo781127 11:AZAHARoALI oS/OoLT.oHAZRAToALIoR/OoVILL.oKACHUMARAoNCoP.O.oANDoP.S.o KACHUMARAoDIST.oBARPETAoPINo781127 12:JAHIDULoISLAM oS/OoAKBARoALIoR/OoVILL.oMAHACHARAoP.O.oANDoP.S.oKACHUMARAoDIST.o BARPETAoPINo781127 13:ZAHERULoISLAM oS/OoABDULoMATLEBoR/OoVILL.oMAHACHARAoP.O.oANDoP.S.oKACHUMARAo DIST.oBARPETAoPINo781127 14:SOBURoUDDIN oS/OoLT.oABUoBAKKARoR/OoVILL.oKACHUMARAoNCoP.O.oANDoP.S.o KACHUMARAoDIST.oBARPETAoPINo781127 15:SURMANoALI oS/OoLT.oSIDDIQUEoALIoR/OoVILL.oKACHUMARAoNCoP.O.oANDoP.S.o KACHUMARAoDIST.oBARPETAoPINo781127 Page No.# 3/6 16:MAINUL HOQUE S/O KUMOL ALI R/O VILL. KACHIMPUR P.O. AND P.S. KACHUMARA DIST. BARPETA PIN 781127 17:SAHER UDDIN S/O VILL. LT. AZAD ALI R/O VILL. PUB MAHACHAR P.O. AND P.S. KACHUMARA DIST. BARPETA PIN 781127 18:NOBIR HUSSAIN S/O MOZIBAR RAHMAN MOLLAH R/O VILL. KACHUMARA NC P.O. AND P.S. KACHUMARA DIST. BARPETA PIN 781127 19:NUR HAMID S/O LT. SURHAB ALI R/O VIL.KACHUMARA NC P.O. AND P.S. KACHUMARA DIST. BARPETA PIN 781127 20:KANCHAN AHMED W/O ASMA ALI R/O VILL. KACHUMARA NC P.O. AND P.S. KACHUMARA DIST. BARPETA PIN 781127 21:MONOWARA KHATUN W/O JAHIRUL ISLAM R/O VILL. MAHACHARA P.O. AND P.S. KACHUMARA DIST. BARPETA PIN 781127 22:SHAMOR DAS S/O SACHINDRA DAS R/O VLL. HORI DUBA P.O.AND P.S NAGERBERA DIST. KAMRUP PIN 78112 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR M RANA Advocate for the Respondent : SC, CO OP BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE KALYAN RAI SURANA