G.R.AJITH Vs. K.R.AJAYAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners, who claim to be the members of the elected Managing Committee of the fifth respondent - Society, submits that the Co-operative Arbitration Court, Thiruvananthapuram, has now issued an order, setting aside their earlier elections, in ARC No.74/2014 filed before it by respondents 1, 3 and 4 herein; and that they, therefore, apprehend that even before they can invoke their alternative statutory remedies against this order, the competent Authority will issue proceedings under Section 33 of the Kerala Co- operative Societies Act (KCS Act), removing them and appointing either a Part Time Administrator or an Administrative Committee.

(2.) In response to the afore assertions of Sri.George Poonthottam, assisted by Sri.Arun Chandran, the learned counsel for the petitioners, Sri.Mohammed Hashim, the learned Special Government Pleader, submitted that the apprehension of the petitioners is completely unfounded because any order under Section 33 of the KCS Act will be issued only after following due procedure. He, however, admits that the concerned Authority may issue such an order forthwith, because once the elections of the petitioners have been set aside by the Arbitration Court, they cannot continue to be in office.

(3.) Even though I find some force in the submissions of Sri.Mohammed Hashim, I am of the view that the petitioners must get an effective opportunity to invoke their alternative remedy, particularly because the order in the ARC was delivered only a day before.