GOPINATHAN NAIR Vs. JOINT REGISTRAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Administrator in a cooperative society is not entitled to enroll new members so as to alter the composition of the society. But is there such a restriction on the Administrator / Administrative Committee in the matter of removal of ineligible members

(2.) Petitioners in the former two cases are aggrieved by the steps taken by the respondents for removing the members of the 3rd respondent society on the ground of ineligibility. The 3rd respondent society is now managed by an Administrative Committee. The main contention of the petitioners is that the Administrator / Administrative Committee has no power either to admit members or remove any members from the rolls of the society. The decisions of the Supreme Court in K.Shantharaj and Another v. M.L. Nagaraj and Ors., 1997 (6) SCC 37 and Joint Registrar of Cooperative Societies v. T.A. Kuttappan, 2000 (2) KLT 480 (SC) and the decision of the Full Bench of this Court in Hassan v. Joint Registrar of Cooperative Societies, 1998 (2) KLT 746 are relied on. No doubt, it is more res integra that the Administrator / Administrative Committee appointed either under S.32 or 33 of the Kerala Cooperative Societies Act has no power to enroll new members so as to alter the composition of the Society. But can it be said with the same force that the Administrator or Administrative Committee has no power to expel a member who is ineligible to be a member in the society

(3.) The Kerala Cooperative Societies Act was introduced with a view to providing for the orderly development of the cooperative sector in the State. Member is defined under S.2(1) of the Act as follows: -