ssp 1 WP 3490 of 2011 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO.3490 OF 2011 Madhukar Shivram Kahadal .....Petitioner versus The Assistant Registrar, Co-operative Societies, Nashik and Ors. ..... Respondents Mr.Pramod N. Joshi, for the petitioner. Mr.Vivek V. Salunke, for respondent No.2. Mr.S.N.Bhosale, AGP, for respondent Nos.1 & 3. CORAM: RANJIT MORE, J. DATE: 06th MAY, 2011 P.C. : 1. Heard the learned counsel for the respective parties. 2. Rule. Since the question involved in the petition being short, the petition is taken up for final hearing by consent of the parties. 3. The respondent No.2 is a agricultural co-operative Society. The said society is notified under the provisions of Section 73 of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act and therefore, respondent No.1 is obliged to take elections in compliance with the Rule 56 of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Rules, 1961. Respondent No.1 in accordance with the said rules, is required to publish programme for finalization of the voters list and once voters list is finalized, he has to ssp 2 WP 3490 of 2011 declare election programme. 4. The members of respondent No.2 Society are divided in two constituencies, namely borrower and non-borrower constituencies. From borrower’s constituency, six candidates and from non-borrower’s constituency, one candidate is to be elected apart from the candidates from other reserved category. On 19-03-2011, the provisional list of the members of respondent No.2 was published by the respondent No.1. But the name of the petitioner was shown in non-borrower category. The petitioner thereafter, by way of application dated 22-03-2011 raised an objection to inclusion of his name in non-borrower’s category. It is the contention of the petitioner that he has taken loan subsequent to the last election and therefore, his name ought to have been included in the borrower category. This objection was overruled by the respondent No.1 – Assistant Registrar and therefore, the present petition. 5. Having considered the submissions and having gone through the impugned order along with the copy of the petition with annexures thereto, I find merit in the petition. The last election to the Managing Committee of the respondent No.2 Society was held 16-04-2006 for the period between 2006 to 2011. The petitioner subsequent to this election, obtained loan from the respondent No.2 Society on 19-05-2006. Under Bye-law 9(3) of the respondent No.2 Society, ‘non-borrower ssp 3 WP 3490 of 2011 member’ means a member who has not taken any loan subsequent to the previous election to the Managing Committee of the respondent No.2 Society. 6. As stated above, last election to the Managing Committee of respondent No.2 was held on 16-04-2006 and subsequent thereto i.e. on 10-05-2006, the petitioner had obtained loan. Therefore, I am satisfied that the petitioner’s name ought to have been included in the borrower category of members. Learned counsel for respondent No.2 also accepted this position and submitted that petitioner’s name is wrongly entered into non-borrower category and infact name ought to have been shown in borrower category. The petitioner’s objections were rejected by the respondent No.1 on the ground that pursuant to the last election, Managing Committee was constituted on 23-05-2006 and therefore, loan obtained by the petitioner on 19-05-2006 cannot be taken into consideration. In my view, this ground is unsustainable. Under Bye-law 9(3) of the respondent No.2, if the member has not taken any loan subsequent to the previous election, then he is required to be categorized as non-borrower member. Bye-law 9(3) does not say that loan is required to be taken after constitution of the Managing Committee. In these circumstances, reason given by the respondent No.1 to overrule petitioner’s objections, is not sustainable. Impugned order is accordingly ssp 4 WP 3490 of 2011 quashed and set aside. Rule made absolute in terms of prayer clauses (a) and (b) with no order as to costs. ( RANJIT MORE, J. )