SURINDER PAL SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE writ petition seeks for a direction that the election shall be conducted in consonance with law and fair play, without obstructing the members of the Society from exercising their franchise to vote or to deprive the petitioner to contest the election of the President of the Society. The election to the managing committee of the Society was scheduled to take place on 13.08.2009 and the schedule of the election program had been drawn up through a resolution of the Committee which was alleged to have been on 15.06.2009. The grievance of the petitioner was that on applying for copy of the voters list on 28.07.2009, he found out of 624 members in the Society only 351 had been listed as eligible to vote. He gave representation to the Registrar Cooperative Societies that the Society had a rival faction which had with mala fides cancelled the membership of some of the persons to deprive them from casting their votes in the poll. Subsequently the present writ petition had been filed and at the stage when the Court ordered notice of motion, it also observed that the election of the management committee could be held subject to the outcome of the writ petition.

(2.) SUBSEQUENT to the filing of the writ petition, having regard to the fact that the election was permitted to be proceeded with, the election appears to have been held on 15.10.2009. The grievance of the petitioner is that the election was not held properly and there had been violation of the salutary rules, having not followed the due procedure for election set out in part II of Appendix-C of the Punjab Cooperative Societies Rules, 1963 (called the 1963 Rules). Part-II of the Appendix-C details the rules for election in primary, cooperative societies if it is held in general meeting. Rule 1 states as follows :-

(3.) IT is an admitted case that in the electoral roll prepared the petitioner's name is found at serial No. 400 but against him in the last column captured under the head "vote-yes or no", the word "no" had been entered. Evidently the electoral roll prepared did not cancel his membership or withdraw the membership but had spelt out that he was not entitled to vote. The qualification for a member to vote is spelt out in Sections 17 and 18 of the Punjab Cooperative Societies Act is as under :-