THIRUVANANTHAPURAM REGIONAL CO-OPERATIVE MILK PRODUCERS UNION LTD. Vs. REGISTRAR (DIRECTOR), DAIRY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT AND ANOTHER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal arises from the judgment dated 04.07.2017 in W.P.(C) No. 2974 of 2017 whereby, the writ petition filed by the petitioner was dismissed.

(2.) The petitioner/appellant is aggrieved by the order of the Registrar/Director in Charge of Diary Co-operative Society as contained in Exhibit P-5 being Circular No. 20 of 2016. By the said circular, the Registrar has directed, inter alia, the appellant to admit all primary societies as members, if they are Anand Model Primary Diary Societies, and if they pay the share amount and membership fee along with the application filed in Form 31. The submission is that this peremptory direction takes away the discretion, which the statute has given to the Central or Regional Co-operative Union, in matters of admitting Primary Co-operative Societies as their members.

(3.) To us, the answer to the above is simple. Section 16(3) of the Co-operative Societies Act, 1969 gives the appellant a discretion and, therefore, it recognises the right to reject the membership application. That discretion has not been taken away. The question is when do the appellant exercises such a discretion? In other words, the issue comes out that by virtue of a resolution of the appellant taken as far back as in 1987, as contained in Exhibit P- P-22, they were restricting entry of members. The question then would be, whether this could be done. Learned Additional Advocate General submits that this could be done, because, in law, any restriction that could be put on the right of a Primary Co-operative Society to enter and become member of the Union is governed by Rule 5(1)(e) of the Co-operative Rules, 1969, which reads as under: