Birbahu Basumaatary and 4 Ors v. The State of Assam and 6 Ors

O R D E R

16.09.2024

Heard Mr. A. Sarma, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners and Mr. S. K. Talukdar, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent Nos.1 to 7.

¶2The petitioners herein have approached this Court by filing the instant writ petition apprehending that in the upcoming elections to be held for the Board of Directors of the Asom Bahumukhi Samabai Samiti Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as 'the Cooperative Society'), the petitioners nominations may be rejected, and as such, the petitioners have sought for direction upon the respondent authorities to accept the nomination papers of the petitioners as well as also for a direction that this Court should allow the petitioners to contest in the upcoming elections to constitute the New Board of Directors of the Cooperative Society. Page No.# 4/5

¶3This Court has enquired with Mr. A. Sarma, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners as to whether any notification for holding the elections has been issued as is required under the provisions of the Assam Co-operative Societies Act, 2007 (for short, 'the Act of 2007'). The learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that as of now there is no such notification issued. He however, submitted that there is a communication issued by the respondent No.6 that the elections of the Co-operative Society would be held on or before 30.09.2024. The learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that the petitioners strongly apprehend that the petitioners nominations would be cancelled in terms with Section 40 (4) (a) of the Act of 2007 on the ground that not conducting or wrongly conducting the Annual General Meeting under Section 39 of the Act of 2007. In that regard, the learned counsel for the petitioners had referred to the judgment of the Division Bench of this Court in the case of Jahurul Islam Laskar & Others vs. Baktar Hussain & Others, reported in 2022 (4) GLR 61 wherein the Division Bench of this Court had observed that the embargo under Section 40 (4) (a) of the Act of 2007 was not attracted in the facts of that case. He therefore submitted that the facts in the instant case are similarly situated.

¶4I have also heard Mr. S. K. Talukdar, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondents who submitted that the instant writ petition is a premature writ petition. He submitted that the petitioners have expressed their apprehension which are based on certain facts which needs to be looked into and the same cannot be looked into at this stage without the notification for the AGM/Election being issued and the petitioners thereupon submitting the nominations and the same being Page No.# 5/5 cancelled. He further submitted that if the petitioners duly want to press the judgment of the Division Bench of this Court in the case of Jahurul Islam Laskar (supra), then the same very aspect can be placed before the Returning Officer, or if further aggrieved, before the Election Tribunal in terms with Section 27 of the Assam Co-operative Society's Elections Rules, 2019 (for short, 'the Rules of 2019').

¶5This Court has heard the learned counsels appearing on behalf of parties and given anxious consideration to their respective submissions. This Court upon perusal of the materials on record is of the opinion that the instant writ petition is premature at this stage in as much as till date, there is no notice issued for holding the elections. Apart from that, the cause of action for the petitioners at best would only arise, if their nominations are cancelled in terms with Section 40 (4) (a) of the Act of 2007. In addition to that, if the nominations are cancelled, then the petitioners have an alternative and efficacious remedy in terms with Rule 27 of the Rules of 2019. Under such circumstances, this Court is not inclined to exercise its writ jurisdiction in the instant writ petition.

¶6Accordingly, the instant writ petition stands dismissed.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010179932024 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/4559/2024o BIRBAHUoBASUMAATARYoANDo4oORSo S/O-oBANGSHIoBASUMATARY,o R/O-oBOROBHATAMARIo,oARMANGoROAD,o P.O,oP.S,oDIST-oKOKRAJHAR,oPIN-783370,oASSAM 2:oDIBYAoBARUAH oS/O-oLATEoTANKESWARoBARUAH o R/O-oTIPOMIAoHABIoGAON o P.O-oANDoP.S-oBORHOLLA o DIST-oJORHAT oPIN-785631 oASSAM 3:oKUSHALoKUMARoDUTTA oS/O-oSAILENDRAoNATHoDUTTA o R/O-oNAICHUK oKALIANIoPATHARoJORHAT o P.SoANDoDIST-oJORHAT oPIN-785108 oASSAM 4:oABULoFAZAL oS/O-oKAPILoUDDINoSHEIKH o R/O-oJHASKALoPARToII o P.O-oJHASKAL o P.S-oAGOMONI PageoNo.#o2/5 o DIST-oDHUBRI oPIN-783335 oASSAM 5:oBABULALoBARMAN oS/O-oBALOoRAMoBARMAN o R/O-oBHOGPUR o P.O-oBHALAGURI o P.S-oPATACHARKUCHI o DIST-oBARPETA oPIN-781318 oASSAo VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo6oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoADDITIONALoCHIEFoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.o OFoASSAM,oCOOPERATIONoDEPARTMENT,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-781006 2:THEoDEPUTYoSECRETARY oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oCOOPERATIONoDEPARTMENTo oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-781006 3:THEoREGISTRARoOFoCO-OPERATIVEoSOCIETIES oASSAM oKHANAPARA oGUWAHATI-781022 4:THEoADDITIONALoREGISTRARoOFoCOOPERATIVEoSOCIETIES oASSAM oKHANAPARA oGUWAHATI-781022 5:THEoZONALoJOINToREGISTRARoOFoCOOPERATIVEoSOCIETIES oGUWAHATIoZONEo oBHANGAGARHo o GUWAHATI-781005 oASSAM Page No.# 3/5 6:ZONAL JOINT REGISTRAR OF COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES JORHAT ZONE JORHAT ASSAM PIN-785001 7:THE ONE MAN COMMITTEE OF ASOM BAHUMUKHI SAMABAI SAMITI LTD JORHAT ASSAM PIN-78500 For the petitioner (s) : Mr. A. Sarma, Advocate For the respondent (s) : Mr. S. K.Talukdar, SC, CO OP BEFORE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE DEVASHIS BARUAH