GUDIVADA COOPERATIVE URBAN BANK LTD Vs. SHEIK MAHABOOBI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) HEARD Sri Vedula Venkata Ramana, the learned senior counsel appearing on behalf of the appellant and Sri S. Ramachandra Rao, the learned senior counsel appearing on behalf of the contesting respondents 1 to 10 herein and the learned government Pleader for Cooperation.

(2.) THE appellant is a Cooperative Urban Bank, the respondent No. 4 in a writ petition filed by the respondents 1 to 10 herein where they sought for a mandamus declaring the action of the appellant and other respondents in presenting the voters list dated 8-9-2008, which was released to contesting candidates and made public on 19-8-2008 i. e. after the date of withdrawals, by deleting more than 7000 votes including the votes of the respondents 2 to 10 out of 12000 votes, without calling for objections and without issuing any notice and conducting elections to the appellant bank as illegal and violative of article 14 and 19 (1) (c) of the Constitution of India apart from violative of principles of natural justice and contrary to the provisions of the A. P. Cooperative Societies Act 1964 and the Rules made thereunder and consequentially sought to set aside the said voters list dated 8-9-2008 with a further direction to prepare the fresh voters list, in accordance with law.

(3.) IN the affidavit filed in support of the writ petition, it was stated that the appellant bank was established in the year 1915 and is having more than 12000 members. The earlier elections were conducted on 31-08-2000, the term of which expired on 30-8-2005. The respondents 1 to 10, the writ petitioners were on the rolls and shown in the voters list all along. Therefore, with the intervention of an interim arrangement in between as contemplated under law, with a view to conduct elections on 28-9-2008, according to the petitioners, the voters list dated 8-9-2008 was communicated later where under about 7000 eligible members from the voters list out of 12000 voters were deleted without any notice or without following due procedure as contemplated under the law. The case of the writ petitioners was that there is absolutely no justification for such an action and therefore the entire voters list dated 8-9-2008 is totally illegal and cannot be proceeded with for the purpose of conducting elections based thereon, hence the writ petition.