KULWANT SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a Letters Patent Appeal against the judgment of the learned Single Judge dated September 9, 1961, by which the election of Shri Kulwant Singh (hereinafter referred to as 'the Director' or 'the appellant') to the Janta Co-operative Sugar Mills Limited, Bhogpur (hereinafter referred to as 'the Mills') on a writ petition filed by Harbhajan Singh (hereinafter referred to as 'the contesting respondent') was quashed.

(2.) Briefly, the facts which have given rise to this petition are that there is Janta Co-operative Sugar Mills Limited which is registered under the Punjab Co-operative Societies Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'). It has got a governing body which is under the provisions of the bye-laws and is known as 'Board of Directors' which shall hereinafter be referred to as the Board'. The election to the Board of Directors took place in March, 1970, and a programme was drawn up by the Manager of the Mills. The last date for filing the nomination papers by the candidates was March 6, 1970, and the date of scrutiny was fixed as March 7, 1970. For the purposes of elections, zones have been made and we are concerned with the election of the Director from Zone No. 4 in the present case. Ultimately, there were three candidates in Zone No. 4 who were Kulwant Singh, the contesting respondent, Harbhajan Singh, the Director, and Mast Ram. The contesting respondent filed objections on the nomination papers of the Director on the ground that he had served on the Board for a period of more than six years before the filing of the nomination papers and after the termination of his term and the election a period of three years had not expired and, therefore, he was not eligible 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. According to the contesting respondent, the petitioner had served on the Board from October 10, 1960 to July 11, 1968, in the capacity of a Director. It is alleged that from October 10, 1960 to June 13, 1964, he served as an elected Director; from June 14, 1964, to December 4, 1966 he served as a co-opted Director; and from December 5, 1966, to July 11, 1968, he served as a nominated Director. It will also be beneficial to state that the correctness of the above-said dates was accepted at the hearing before respondent No. 3, the Joint Registrar, Co-operative Societies Punjab, who was appointed as the Returning Officer. The objections were heard by respondent No. 3 and he rejected them on March 13, 1970, on the ground that the Director was not on the Committee on the day of the commencement of the amended Act by which Section 26-B had been introduced in the main Act. The relevant findings of respondent No. 3 are in the following terms :-

(3.) The contesting respondent having felt aggrieved against the order of respondent No. 3 filed a Writ Petition to this Court which was heard by a learned Single Judge. After hearing the arguments, the order of respondent No. 3 was quashed by the learned Single Judge on September 9, 1971. The Director has filed the Letters Patent Appeal against the said order of the learned Single Judge.