HARBHAJAN SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This petition under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India seeks a writ of certiorari quashing the order dated the 13th of March, 1970 (Annexure "A" to the petition) of the Joint Registrar, Co-operative Societies, Punjab (respondent No. 3) and declaring that the election of Kulwant Singh (respondent No. 4) to the Executive Committee of the Janta Co-operative Sugar Mills, Limited, Bhogpur (hereinafter referred to as the Mills) is null and void, and has arisen in these circumstances. The Mills is a co-operative society registered under the Punjab Co-operative Societies Act, 1961 (hereinafter called the Act) and the Punjab Co-operative Society Rules,, 1963 (hereinafter referred to as the Rules). The governing body of the Mills which under its bye-laws in known as the Board of Directors, and is hereinafter referred to as the Board, was to be elected in the month of March, 1970, and according to the programme drawn up by the "Manager", the last date for filing of nomination papers by candidates was the 6th of March, 1970. The scrutiny of nomination papers took place on the 7th of March, 1970, by when only three candidates, namely, the petitioner, Kulwant Singh respondent No. 4 and one Mast Ram were left in the field in so far as the election from one of the Zones, namely, Zone No. 4, was concerned. The petitioner objected to the acceptance of the nomination papers of respondent No. 4 on the ground that the latter had already served on the Board for a period of more than six years and was, therefore, ineligible for election to the Board according to the provisions of sub-section (2) of Section 26-B read with clause (b) of section 2 of the Act. These provisions are to the following effect :

(2.) No person shall be eligible for being to the committee of any co-operative society after he has served on the committee of that society, whether before or after or partly before and the partly after the commencement of the Punjab Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Act, 1969, for a continuous period of not less than six years, unless a period of not less than three years has expired since he last so served.

(3.) It is true that the sub-section has no retrospective effect but then all that it means is that the provisions thereof are to be operative only in the case of a person who seeks election to a committee on or after the 10th of September, 1969, i.e., the date on which the sub-section was enacted, so that they cannot be applied to a case in which the question of eligibility of a person arose before the said date. But in so far as the fulfilment of the conditions of ineligibility of a candidate is concerned, it has nothing to do with the question of retrospectivitly of the sub-section and such conditions must be taken to be those prescribed by it. They are -