A V UNNIKRISHNAN Vs. DEPUTY DIRECTOR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The 1st petitioner is the President and petitioners 2 and 3 are the members of the managing committee of the 2nd respondent Society, which is a milk marketing society registered under the provisions of the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act, 1969 (for brevity, 'the Act'). The 2nd respondent Society was established on 6.10.2016. The petitioners have approached this Court in this writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, seeking a writ of certiorari to quash Ext.P5 order dated 12.12.2017 of the 1st respondent, whereby they are disqualified from being members of the managing committee of the 2 nd respondent Society under Rule 44(1)(j) of the Kerala Co-operative Societies Rules, 1969 (for brevity, 'the Rules') in view of Clause 5.2 (vii) of Ext.P1 bye-laws of the Society.

(2.) Clause 5.2 of Ext.P1 bye-laws of the 2 nd respondent Society prescribes the qualification for a member of the society to be elected and continue as a member of the managing committee. Clause 5.2 (vii) provides that a member of the managing committee should have more than one cow or buffalo and should have supplied milk to the society as prescribed under Clause 3.3 (b)(iii). As per Clause 3.3 (b)(iii), in order to continue as an active member of the society, the member should have supplied milk to the society for at least 180 days during the previous year, an if he has supplied milk for less than 180 days the minimum quantity of milk supplied should not be less than 500 liters.

(3.) According to the petitioners, they have supplied milk to the 2nd respondent Society regularly. However, the employee who was holding the charge of Secretary has not entered correctly the quantity of the milk supplied by them. He had even refused to accept the milk supplied by the petitioners. In Ext.P2 defect note dated 29.11.2017, the Dairy Extention Officer, Pattanakad has noted that the Secretary-in-charge is not maintaining the purchase register in the prescribed format.