MOHAMMED NABEEB Vs. REGISTRAR OF CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Writ Petition may be of some interest to lawyers-particularly those interested in the management of Co-operative Societies-since the petitioner, who is stated to possess graduation in law, asserts that lawyers are entitled to contest elections to the Managing Committee of a Co-operative Society under the constituency reserved for "persons with professional qualifications", as per the provisions of the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act ('KCS Act' for short).

(2.) The petitioner, after asserting to be a lawyer, seeks that his nomination for being elected to the Managing Committee of the Kuttiyady Urban Co-operative Bank Limited (hereinafter referred to 'the Bank' for short) be accepted and that he be allowed to contest in the ensuing elections.

(3.) This Writ Petition was filed on 30.07.2019, when the elections were scheduled on 04.08.2019. I had, therefore, by an interim order, directed the petitioner's nomination to be accepted provisionally; but the petitioner today complains that inspite of this interim order, his nomination has been rejected. I, therefore, asked Sri R. Lakshmi Narayan, learned Standing Counsel for the Returning Officer about this allegation, who submitted that on account of an inadvertent and unintended communication error, the said Officer did not accept the petitioner's nomination; but that since there is one post which is left uncontested, the petitioner can be considered against the same, provided he is statutorily eligible to occupy the post of a member under the relevant constituency. Sri R. Lakshmi Narayan, therefore, says that this Court may, if so inclined, leave it to the Election Commission to decide whether petitioner can be accommodated to this vacancy, which is still left unfilled.