Minhaz Uddin v. The State of Assam and 5 Ors

ORDER Date : 04-10-2023

Heard Mr. D.A. Kaiyum, learned counsel for the writ petitioner in W.P.(C) No. 5688/2023 and Mr. M. Khan, learned counsel for the writ petitioner in W.P.(C) No. 5039/2023. Also heard Ms. M.D. Borah, learned standing counsel, Cooperation Page No.# 4/5 Department, Assam appearing for the respondent Nos. 1 to 4 in both these writ petitions. Mr. M.U. Mondal, learned counsel has appeared for the private respondent No. 6 in both these writ petitions. In both these cases the order dated 14-08-2023 passed by the Asstt. Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Barpeta approving the appointment of the respondent No. 6 as the Secretary of the Pachim Mandia GPSS Ltd. based on the resolution No. 2 dated 24-07-2023 adopted by the Board of Directors, has been put under challenge, inter alia, contending that there is no valid resolution of the Board backing the order dated 14-08-2023 of the Asstt. Registrar of the Cooperative Societies, Barpeta. After going through the materials available on record, I find that although, by the resolutions dated 10-08-2023 and 12-08-2023, the Board of Directors had taken a decision not to implement the resolution No. 2 adopted in its meeting held on 24-07-2023, yet, subsequently, by the resolution adopted in the meeting the Board of Directors held on 28-08-2023, the resolutions adopted in the meeting held on 10-08-2023 and 12-08-2023 have been cancelled and the resolution No. 2 dated 24-07-2023 whereby it was decided that the respondent No. 6 should be appointed as the Secretary of the Society has been affirmed. After going through the materials on record, it prima facie appears that the resolution No. 2 adopted in the meeting of the Board of Directors held on 24-07-2023 appointing the respondent No. 6 as the Secretary of the Board has been restored. The order dated 14-08-2023 has been assailed by the President of the Board by filing W.P.(C) No. 5688/2023 whereas, the same order has been assailed by another share holder of the Page No.# 5/5 GPSS Ltd. by filing W.P.(C) No. 5039/2023. It has been brought to the notice of this Court that the impugned order dated 14-08-2023 is appealable under Section 111(1) of the Assam Cooperative Societies Act, 2007 and the President of the Board has also preferred an appeal before the Registrar of Cooperative Societies, which is pending disposal. If that be so, this Court is of the opinion that the appeal pending before the Registrar of Cooperative Societies ought to be decided on merit before the writ petitioners can be permitted to agitate their grievance by filing writ petitions. The learned counsel for both the sides have also agreed to such a recourse. In view of the above, these writ petitions are disposed of, with the consent of the learned counsel for both the sides, by providing that the appeal preferred by the writ petitioner in W.P.(C) No. 5688/2023 be heard and decided on merit after giving him an opportunity of hearing in the matter. The above exercise be carried out and completed as expeditiously as possible, but not later than 06 weeks from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order, after giving an opportunity of being heard to all the contesting parties. With the above observation, these writ petitions stand disposed of. Caveat stands discharged.

JUDGE GS Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010217702023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/5688/2023o AYNALoHOQUEo THEoPRESIDENToOFoTHEoBOARDoOFoDIRECTORSoOFoPASCHIMoMANDIAoSSo LTD.,o MANDIA,oBARPETA,oASSAM.o S/O-oLATEoAKBARoALI,o VILL-oSATRAKONARAoSEAToNO.o6,o P.O.-oSATRAKONARA,o P.S.-oBAGHBAR,o DIST.-oBARPETA,oASSAM. VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo5oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.o OFoASSAM,o CO-OPERATIONoDEPARTMENT,oDISPUR,o GUWAHATI-6. 2:THEoREGISTRARoOFoCO-OPERATIVEoSOCIETIESoASSAM oKHANAPARA oGUWAHATI-22. 3:THEoDISTRICToDEPUTYoREGISTRARoOFoCOOP.oSOCIETIES oBARPETA oASSAM-o781301. 4:THEoASSTT.oREGISTRARoOFoCO-OPERATIVEoSOCIETIES oBARPETA oASSAM-o781301. 5:THEoSECRETARY oPASCHIMoMANDIAoSSoLTD. Page No.# 2/5 MANDIA P.O.- MANDIA DIST.- BARPETA ASSAM. 6:LOKMAN HUSSAIN S/O- LATE HABIL UDDIN VILL.- CHASRA NO. 1 P.O.- SATRAKONARA P.S.- BAGHBAR DIST.- BARPETA ASSAM PIN- 781308 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. D A KAIYUM Advocate for the Respondent : SC, CO OP Linked Case : WP(C)/5039/2023 MINHAZ UDDIN S/O- LATE ABDUL GANI VILL.- SATRAKONARA SEAT NO. 6 P.O. SATRAKONARA P.S. BAGHBAR DIST. BARPETA ASSAM VERSUS THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 5 ORS REPRESENTED BY THE COMMISSIONER AND SECRETARY TO THE GOVT. OF ASSAM CO-OPERATION DEPARTMENT DISPUR GUWAHATI-6. 2:THE REGISTRAR OF CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES ASSAM Page No.# 3/5 KHANAPARA GUWAHATI-22. 3:THE DISTRICT DEPUTY REGISTRAR OF COOP. SOCIETIES BARPETA ASSAM PIN- 781301. 4:THE ASSTT. REGISTRAR OF CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES BARPETA ASSAM PIN- 781301. 5:THE PRESIDENT PASCHIM MANDIA SS LTD. MANDIA P.O. MANDIA DIST. BARPETA ASSAM PIN- 781308. 6:LOKMAN HUSSAIN S/O- LATE HABIL UDDIN VILL.- CHASRA NO. 1 P.O. SATRAKONARA P.S. BAGHBAR DIST. BARPETA ASSAM PIN- 781308. ------------ Advocate for : MR. A R BHUYAN Advocate for : SC CO OP appearing for THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 5 ORS BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SUMAN SHYAM