Motaher Ali Prodhani and Anr v. The State of Assam and 7 Ors

ORDER Date : 13.07.2023 Heard Mr. N. Haque, learned counsel for the petitioners. Also heard Mr. S.K. Talukdar, learned standing counsel for the respondent nos.1 to 5.

¶2In brief, the case of the petitioners is that they are the shareholder Page No.# 3/4 of Madhusoulmari Samabai Samity Ltd. of Dhubri district. The earlier Board of Directors of the said society was dissolved by an order dated 18.03.2023 and an One Man Ad Hoc Committee was appointed for running the said society. On

30.06.2023, the Secretary of the said society had published an election notice to hold the election of the society on 16.07.2023. The grievance of the petitioners is that the voters list is defective as the names of the petitioner are found deleted, whereas names of some persons, who were not previously member of the society, are found to be included. It is submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioners that on 10.07.2023, an appeal has also been filed before the Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Assam for taking necessary action. However, the said matter has not been taken up for adjudication. It is submitted that if no order is passed by 15.07.2023, the matter would become infructuous as election would be held on 16.07.2023.

¶3It is submitted by the learned standing counsel for the Cooperation Department that otherwise an election dispute can be raised after 3 days from the date of declaration of the result.

¶4In view of the nature of dispute raised and the nature of order proposed to be passed, issuance of notice on the respondents including the private respondent nos.6 to 8 is dispensed with.

¶5As the petitioner has already approached the Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Assam alleging incorrectly prepared voters list, the Court is of the considered opinion that the Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Assam, being the highest authority in the Cooperative Society would definitely have inherent power under section 41 of the Assam Cooperative Societies Act to pass appropriate orders. It may not be necessary to wait till adverse election result is declared. Page No.# 4/4

¶6Accordingly, as the petitioner has already filed an appeal, the Court is inclined to close this writ petition with liberty to the petitioners to move the Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Assam with a prayer for interim relief, which would be considered by the said authority in its own merit without being influenced by this order.

¶7The petitioners are also required to take note of the provisions of Rule 27 of the Assam Cooperative Societies Election Rules, 2019.

¶8The petitioner is permitted to move the Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Assam with a downloaded copy of this order if certified copy cannot be obtained for some reason.

¶9With the aforesaid observation, this writ petition stands disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010152142023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/3974/2023o MOTAHERoALIoPRODHANIoANDoANRo S/O-oLATEoMONSERoALIoPRODHANI,oR/O-oVILL-oMADHUSOULMARIoPART-I, P.O-oMODHUSOULMARI,oDIST-oDHUBRI,oASSAM 2:oAYESHAoPRODHANIo@oAYENAoPRODHANI oW/O-oLATEoMOTHERoALIoPRODHANI oR/O-oVILL-oMADHUSOULMARIoPART-I oP.O-oMODHUSOULMARI oDIST-oDHUBRI oASSAo VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo7oORSo REP.oBYoTHEoADDITIONALoCHIEFoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVToOFoASSAM,o COOPERATIONoDEPTT,oDISPUR,oGHY-o06 2:THEoREGISTRARoOFoCOOPERATIVEoSOCIETIES oASSAM oKHANAPARA oGHY-o22 3:THEoASSTToREGISTRARoOFoCOOPERATIVEoSOCIETIES oDHUBRI oP.OoANDoDIST-oDHUBRI oASSAM oPIN-o783301 4:THEoDISTRICToDEPUTYoREGISTRARoOFoCOOPoSOCIETIES oDHUBRI oP.OoANDoDIST-oDHUBRI oASSAM oPIN-o783301 Page No.# 2/4 5:THE RETURNING OFFICER/ONE MAN COMMITTEE MADHUSOULMARI SAMABAI SAMITY LTD GOURIPUR DIST- DHUBRI ASSAM PIN- 783331 6:THE SECRETARY MADHUSOULMARI SAMABAI SAMITY LTD GOURIPUR DIST- DHUBRI ASSAM PIN- 783331 7:AYUB ALI S/O- LATE KAIBAR ALI R/O- VILL- ROWA PT-III P.O- TIAMARI DIST- DHUBRI ASSAM PIN- 783331 8:AHMED HUSSAIN CHOUDHURY S/O- LATE UPAT ULLAH SK R/O- VILL- ROWA PT-III P.O- TIAMARI DIST- DHUBRI ASSAM PIN- 78333 Advocate for the Petitioner : DR. B AHMED Advocate for the Respondent : SC, CO OP BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE KALYAN RAI SURANA