RASTRIYA SAKHAR KAMGAR UNION Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The dispute in the present Petition, is as regards the nominations of two persons on the Board of Directors of the Respondent no.5 Co-operative Society in terms of Section 73BB of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 (hereinafter referred to as "the said Act").

(2.) The factual matrix involved in the present Petition is stated thus:-

(3.) After the said names of Shri K.N. Chattar and Shri L.B. Warpe as representatives of the workers were sent, pandemonium broke loose, as two members of the Managing Council of the Petitioner Union namely Shri Dinkar Pandharinath Gagre and Chandrabhan Thakaji Mhase addressed a letter dated 10.4.2005 to the Managing Director, that the said two names have been sent without holding a meeting of the Union or without taking the workers in confidence and were sent in collusion with the said two persons. Thereafter 29 workers vide their letter dated 3.5.2005, also addressed to the Managing Director of the Respondent no.5 took objection to the names of the said two persons. It appears that about 950 workers of the Respondent no.5 Sugar factory out of the total 1082 workers also represented to the Managing Director against the said two names. On account of the said objections, there was a impasse as regards sending of the representatives of the workers on the Board of Directors in terms of Section 73BB. In view of the objections raised, the Respondent no.5 Sugar factory apprehending the breach of industrial peace did not take any action as regards the two representative of the workers on the Board of Directors of the Sugar factory. This resulted in the Petitioner Union filing Writ Petition no. 4390 of 2006 inter-alia seeking a direction that the authorities concerned should be directed to follow the mandate of Section 73BB of the said Act by accepting the two names sent by the Petitioner Union. In the said Petition, two workers namely, Raosaheb Gabaji Dighe and Mangesh Babu Jadhav sought to intervene therein. Considering the contentious issue as regards the nomination of the two representatives of the workers on the Board of Directors, a Division Bench of this Court, by order dated 17.11.2006 disposed of the said Writ Petition by directing the Regional Joint Director, Sugar, Ahmednagar to take a decision as regards the compliance of Section 73BB qua the Respondent no.5 Sugar factory within a period of eight weeks, after hearing the respective parties, the intervenors were also, granted liberty to approach the Regional Joint Director (Sugar) so that they could be heard in the matter.