AMTHABHAI VARVABHAI RABARI Vs. PRAHLADJI VALAJI RAJPUT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this petition under Article 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India the petitioners challenge the judgment and order dated 15th April 2006 passed by the Gujarat State Co-operative Tribunal, Ahmedabad (hereinafter referred to as the Tribunal) whereby the Tribunal has allowed the Election petition filed by the respondents No.1 to 11 herein and held that the nomination papers of the respondents No.1 to 11 have been wrongly rejected; that the decision declaring the opponents No.2 to 9 in the Election Petition, (namely, the petitioners and 3 others) as having been elected uncontested on 26/7/2005 was not in consonance with the provisions of law and the election rules and has set aside the election of the 11 candidates of the agriculturists' constituency of the respondent No.16, Siddhpur Taluka Co-operative Purchase and Sales Union Limited, Siddhpur (hereinafter referred to as the respondent Union) who had been declared elected uncontested.

(2.) The facts as emerging from the record of the case are that the respondent Union is a specified co-operative society within the meaning of section 74C(1)(iv)(b) of the Gujarat Co-operative Societies Act, 1961 (the Act). Accordingly, the election of the members of the managing committee and of the officers by the committee of the said society is subject to the provisions of Chapter XI-A of the Act and is required to be conducted in the manner laid down by or under that Chapter. The Government of Gujarat has in the exercise of powers under section 168 read with sub-section (2) of section 145G, sub-section (4) of section 145U and section 145Y of the Act, framed rules called the Gujarat Specified Co-operative Societies Elections to Committees Rules, 1982 (hereinafter referred to as the Rules), which govern the elections of Committees of specified societies.

(3.) Byelaw No.28(1) of the Byelaws of the respondent Union provides for the constitution of a Managing committee consisting of 17 members, out of which 11 belong to the agriculturists constituency. The term of the Managing committee of the respondent Union was expiring in 2005, hence election of the new Managing committee was required to be held. Accordingly, the Election Officer and Mamlatdar Siddhpur, respondent No.12 herein, declared the election programme for election of the members of the managing committee of the said society. As per the voters list declared by the Election Officer the respondent Union had 45 voters. The names of the petitioners as well as the respondents No.1 to 11 were included in the said voters list. The dispute involved in the present petition pertains to the election of 11 members of the agriculturists" constituency of the respondent Union.