BASAVARAJ Vs. KAJJARI VYAVASAYA SEVA SAHAKARI SANGHA LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) There is no substance in this writ appeal. The appellant who was respondent-5 in the writ petition was inducted as President of the Managing 'Committee of a reconstituted Co-operative Society on amalgamation of two societies. He was inducted pursuant to the order dated 21-4-1994 Anaexure-E to the writ petition. That order is passed by the Joint Registrar of Co-operative Societies, Belgaum Sub-Division, Belgaum. It appears to have been passed in purported exercise of powers under Section 14-A of the Karnataka Co-operative Societies Act, 1959 (for short 'the Act'). This order was challenged in writ petition by respondent-1- Co-operative Society. The challenge was mounted on various grounds. One contention was that the managing committee's term was for three years, and it was constituted on 30th March 1991. By virtue of an order issued under Section 14-A of the Act, the erstwhile Societies were required to be amalgamated. The said provision reads as under :

(2.) It was contended that such an order is not contemplated by Section 14-A at all. It was also submitted that even assuming that the Joint Regis- trar could have exercised that power even after the tenure of the first com- mittee constituted by him under Section 14-A of the Act was over, till the fresh elections of the managing committee were held by the members of the newly formed amalgamated co-operative society, the old managing committee could legally continue, that the impugned order was passed by the Joint Registrar not at his own instance but only at the behest of one local M.L.A. Mr. K.G. Koliwad as mentioned in the order itself and therefore, it is not the order passed by the Joint Registrar in exercise of his own powers and so it shows complete non-application of mind and is passed for extraneous reasons not contemplated by Section 14-A of the Act. Both these conten- tions were accepted by the learned Single Judge and the appointment of appellant as new President of this managing committee by the notification dated 21-4-1994 issued by the Joint Registrar of Co-operatiee Societies, second respondent in the writ petition was set aside.

(3.) The appellant who naturally got aggrieved by the said order has contended in this appeal that the Joint Registrar of Co-operative Societies in exercise of his powers under Section 14-A of the Act, could cut short the tenure of the Chairman of the managing committee constituted by him initially. This contention has to be stated to be rejected. As noted earlier when two societies were amalgamated and a new amalgamated society i. e., present respondent-1 came into existence under Section 14-A (2) of the Act, the Joint Registrar nominated the members of the first managing committee including the Chairman. That was already done by the order dated 26-3-1991 Annexurc-A to the writ petition, Clause (11) of that order lays down that the term of office of the. members of the said committee shall be three years but the Joint Registrar of Co-operative Societies having jurisdiction may at anytime, limit the term of any member (including the Chairmaa) to a shorter period and nominate another person in his place. We fai! to appreciate how this clause can apply on the facts of this case. As noted earlier tlte tenure of the first managing committee constituted under Section 14- A .of the Act was three years from 30-3-1991 and it ended on 30-3-1994- Along with it the full term of the Chairman was also over. Thereafter there remained no occassion for cutting short the tenure of any one for any period anterior to 30-3-1994. The impugned order is dated 21-44994. By that order the existing Chairman was sought to be replaced by the appellant. For exercising that power, clanse (11) was out of picture. It must therefore be held that when this order was passed the Joint Registrar was not clothed with any futther power under Section 14rA of the Act, to monitor the constitution or re-constitution or reshuffing of the first manag- ing Committee which could have been constituted by him in exercise of powers under Section 14-A(ii) of the Act. That power got exhausted the moment the first committee was consti- tuted and its term expired by efflux of time. Thereafter it was for the mem- bers of the society in the annual general body meeting to elect and, reconsti- tue the Managing Committee. It would be the second managing committee WOJC&, ij/ould be consisting of elected members. That has never hap- pened. We are told that this is because there is, ban imposed by the State Government for holding any elections to managing committee of societies upto 31-12-1994. Be that as it may. There is no power under Section 14-A (2) of the Act, to constitute a second managing Committee after the first managing committee's term got exhausted on expiry of the period of three years. It may be noted that in such an eventually under Rule 13 sub-rule (3) of the Rules, the election of the members of the committee has to be held an or before the date specified in the bye-laws on the expiry of the term of the office of the members. There is a proviso to Rule 13 which provides that the, committee whose term of office in deemed to so expire, shall coptinue in office till the new committee elected and shall thereafter hand over charge of the office to the new committee.