N RAMASWAMY CHAIRMAN PONDICHERRY COOPERATIVE MILK PRODUCERS UNION PONDICHERRY Vs. LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF PONDICHERRY PONDICHERRY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner in W.P.No.9737 of 1982 is the appellant in this Writ Appeal and he shall be referred to only as the petitioner, in this judgment. The respondents herein are the respondents in the writ petition. The petitioner filed the writ petition for the issue of a Writ of Certiorari to quash the order of the first respondent in R.P.No.3 of 1982 dated 25.11.1982, confirming the order of the second respondent in ARC No.1502 of 1982 dated 14.10.1982 and of the third respondent in ARC.No.1421 of 1982 dated 12-8-1982. The proceedings arose under the following circumstances: The petitioner was elected as the President of the Pondicherry Co-operative Industrial Printing Press Limited, for the sake of convenience hereinafter referred to as the press, in the year 1981. While he was so holding the post, he got himself elected as the President of the Embalal Milk Producers Co-operative Society, for the sake of convenience hereinafter referred to as the Milk Society, on 12.3.1982. The election to the Committee of Management of the Pondicherry Co-operative Milk Producers Union Limited, for the sake of convenience hereinafter referred to as the Union, came off on 22-5-1982. Earlier to that, the petitioner resigned his Presidentship in the Press on 8-5-1982. It is admitted that for the purpose of getting elected to the Committee of Management of the Union, the petitioner must be the President of a Primary Milk Producers Society, such as the milk society. The petitioner succeeded in getting himself elected to the Committee of Management of the Union. This election was challenged by the fourth respondent before the third respondent under the provisions of the Pondicherry Co-operative Socei-ties Act, 1972 (No.7 of 1973) hereinafter referred to as the Act, on the ground that the petitioner suffered the disqualification under section 35(1) of the Act with regard to the milk Society. The objection of the fourth respondent found countenance by the third respondent by the order dated 12-8-1982, referred to above. The petitioner preferred a revision to the second respondent and that revision did not fructify and it ended in confirmation of the order of the third respondent. The petitioner agitated the matter by way of a further revision to the first respondent and even before the first respondent, the petitioner could not succeed. Thus the petitioner was obliged to come to this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India with the above prayer.

(2.) Before Mohan, J. who heard the writ petition, it was urged that the view of the first respondent that the petitioner lost the membership of the Committee of all the registered societies by virtue of section 34(6)(a) of the Act is unsustainable and that provision would work out so to make the petitioner lose his office only in respect of the Press, which he even otherwise resigned on 8-5-1982 and hence, his induction into and functioning of as the President of the Milk Society can survive to enable him to contest for and getting elected to the Committee of Management of the Union. The learned Judge did not uphold this contention and held, construing the provisions of sections 34(1), (i) 34 (6)(q) and 35 of the Act, that the petitioner lost the membership of the milk society and he was ineligible for contesting the election of the Union. This order of the learned Judge is the subject-matter of challenge in the present writ appeal.

(3.) To appreciate and assess the contentions put fourth by Mr.J.Stanislas, learned counsel for the petitioner, it has become necessary to advert to the relevant provisions of the Act and they are, as stated above, sections 34(1), 34(6)(a) and 35 of the Act, and they stand extracted as hereunder: "No person shall be eligible for being elected or appointed as a member of a committee if he (a) is such near relation as may be prescribed of a paid employee of the registered society or (b)(i) is in default to the society or to any other registered society or if he is a representative of a society, which is in default to the financing bank or to any other registered society, in respect of any sum of money due by him or by the society, which he represents for a period exceeding three months Provided that a member of the Committee who has cessed to hold office as such under this sub-clause shall not be eligible for a period of one year from the date on which he ceased to hold office, for re-election as a member of the committee, of the registered society of which he was a member or for election to the Committee of any other registered society or (ii) is a person against whom any decree, decision, award or order referred to in section 133 has been obtained or a representative of a society against which such decree, decision, award or order has been obtained or (iii) is a person against whom an application has been made for the recovery of debts under section 134 or for the sale of the mortgaged property or any part thereof under section 105: Provided that a member of the Committee who has ceased to hold office, as such under sub-clauses (ii) and (iii) shall not be eligible for a period of three years from the date on which the dues involved in such decree, decision, award order or as application have been fully discharged for re-election as a member of the committee of the registered society of which he was a member or a representative, or for election to the committee of any other registered society or (c) is interested directly or indirectly in any contract made with the society, or in any sale ox purchase made by the society privately or in any auction or in any contract or transaction of the society (other than investment/and borrowing) involving financial interest or, (b) is interested as a member of the committee, in any such contract, sale, purchase or transaction and a period of five years has not elapsed from the date of completion of such contract, sale, purchase or transaction: Provided that clauses (c) and (d) shall not apply to such class of contracts, sales, purchase or transaction as may be prescribed or (c) is employed as legal practitioner on behalf of the registered society or against the registered society or on behalf of or against any other registered society which is a member of the former registered society or (f) is an associate member or (g) is a minor or of unsound mind-or (h) has been sentenced for any offence under this Act, such sentence not having been reversed and a period of three years has not elapsed from the date of the expiration of the sentence or (1) has been removed from the office of the member of the committee of the registered society or of any other registered society or disqualified under section 35." "(6) A member of the Committee shall cease to hold his office as such if he (a) becomes subject to any of the disqualifications mentioned in sub-section (1)." "35(1) A member of the Committee shall not hold any of the offices of President, Chairman, Vice-President, Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Treasurer or an office of any other designation in more than one registered society. (2) If any member of a Committee is at the commencement of this Act, an office-bearer of more than one registered society, then at the expiry of the period of ninety days from such commencement, he shall cease to be an off ice-bearar of all such registered societies, unless he had previously resigned his office in all but one of the societies." The preliminary portion of section 34(1) states: "No person shall be eligible for being elected or appointed as a member of a committee", if he comes within any of the mischiefs enumerated in clauses (a) to (i). The later part of clause (i) speaks about disqualification under section 25. Section 35(1 imposes the disqualification and it inhibits a person from holding more than one office. In other words, a conjoint reading of section 34(1) and section 35(1) of the Act amply makes out that if a person already holds office in one society, he will be debarred from entering and holding office in a second society. Section 34(6)(a) speaks about cessation of the office, if a member of the committee becomes subject to any of the disqualifications mentioned in sub-section (1) of section 34 of the Act. The entire argument of the learned counsel for the petitioner is built only on this provision to state that the petitioner lost his office only in the first society, namely, the press and his election to end holding of office in the second society namely the milk society can survive so as to enable him to contest for the election in the Union. Section 35(2) of the Act is a transitory provision. It says that if any member of a committee, at the commencement of the Act, is an office — bearer of more than one registered society, then at the expiry of the period of ninety days from such commencement, he shall cease to be an office — bearer of all such registered societies unless he has previously resigned his office in all but one of the societies. Obviously, the bar, inhibition and the consequences adumbrated under sections 34(1), 35(1) and 34(6)(a) of the Act were not there to operate before the commencement of the Act. An option is given to a person who holds offices in more than one society at the commencement of the Act to come within the policy of the Act and confine the holding of office only to one society. We have nothing to do with this provision on the facts of this case.