BALUBHAI MAGANLAL GHASWALA Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, ordered to be heard peremptorily, raises some important and interesting questions. The factual background of this petition needs to be stated in a nutshell.

(2.) THE respondent No. 3 is Shree Bulsar Sahakari Khand Udyog Mandli Ltd., Bulsar, a co -operative society floated under the provisions of the Gujarat Co -operative Societies Act, with the objects to encourage proper development of agricultural industries amongst members on co -operative lines by introducing modern methods of agriculture and by promotion of principles of co -operative and joint farming methods, so as to secure best advantages of modern large scale agricultural production to the owner or the tenant cultivators of land and to establish for that purpose sugar manufacturing factory and to manage it. For achieving the aforesaid objects, the society was to raise share capital and deposits from members to raise funds by floating debentures under Government guarantee for investment in block assets and allied purposes and to do all other things incidental to the said main objects. On its being constituted, the society had framed bye -laws which had came to be approved by the State Government. The field of operation of the society was fairly extensive and its activities were spread over areas of various talukas in Bulsar District as set out in schedule A to the bye -laws. The management of the society as per the bye -laws was to be with the Board of Directors, which consisted of different categories of directors mentioned in bye -law No. 21 (1). However, in the initial stages, the Government had spared the amount running into lacs of rupees in order to make afoot the activities of the society and bye -law No. 21 (2) made provision for the initial Board of Directors. The bye -law No. 21 (2) reads as follows :

(3.) THE petitioners and their companions by virtue of the order Annexure A had been holding the office of the administration of the society, but the Joint Registrar of Co -operaiive Societies came to pass on 3 -5 -77 the impugned order at Annexure B and appointed a new Board of Directors limiting its life up to the period of 30 -6 -77 or to the passing of any other order. All the three petitioners by the impugned order, Annexure B, are made to bid adieu and that is why they challenge the order, Annexure B, on the ground that it is violation of the express text of bye -law No. 21 (2) quoted above and that the said order had come to be passed by the Joint Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Gujarat State, Ahmedabad, at the behest of the Janata Party Ministry, which wanted to accommodate their favourites in place of the petitioners and others, who presumably do not owe allegiance to this new Government installed for the State of Gujarat somewhere in the month of April 1977.