RAVINDRA LAXMAN BHINGARDAVE Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) RULE Respondents waive service. By consent, rule is made returnable forthwith.

(2.) THE short question which falls for consideration is whether respondent No.3 who is holding the post of Chairman of respondent No.4 society for a continuous period of more then ten years had incurred a disqualification under sub section (5) of section 73A of the Maharashtra Co-operative Society Act, 1960 (hereinafter referred to as the "said Act").

(3.) IT is not disputed that the Society is a notified society to which the provision of Section 73A are applicable. Sub-section (1) of Section 73-A inter alia provides that for the purpose of this section,"a designated officer' means the Chairman and the President, and includes any other officer of the Society as may be declared by the State Government, by notification in the Official Gazette, to be a designated officer, but does not include any officer appointed or nominated by the State Government or by the Registrar. It is, therefore, clear that respondent No.3 being Chairman of the Society, is a designated officer for the purposes of Section 73-A of the Act. Subsection (2)of Section 73A classifies the Society in three distinct categories. Sub-section (2) of Section 73-A reads as follows: