IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CWJC No.14250 of 2009 ALL INDIA POSTS & TELEGRAPHS SC/ST Employees Welfare Assocaition (Regd.),Bihar Circle,Patna through its Secretary, namely, Nawal Kishore Prasad s/o Shri Hulas Prasad, resident of Mohalla- Jakkanpur, P.S. Jakkanpur,District-Patna. Versus 1. THE STATE OF BIHAR 2. The Commissioner-cum-Secretary,Department of Co- operative ,Govt. of Bihar,Vikas Bhawan, New Secretariat,Patna. 3. The Registrar, Department of Co-operative ,Govt. of Bihar,Vikas Bhawan, New Secretariat,Patna. 4. The Assistant Registrar) (A.R.,Co-operative Societies-cum- Returning Officer, Department of Co-operative ,Govt. of Bihar,Vikas Bhawan, New Secretariat,Patna. 5. The District Co-operative Officer,Patna, District-Patna. 6. The President,the Bihar Posts and Telegraphs Co-operative Society Ltd., G.P.O., Campus,Patna. 7. The Secretary, The Bihar Posts and Telegraphs Co-operative Society Ltd., G.P.O. Campus,Patna. 8. The Manager, Arokta Samiti, the Bihar Posts and Telegraphs Co-operative Society Ltd., G.P.O. Campus,Patna. ----------- For the Petitioner : Mr. Nityanand Mishra For the State : Mr. Subhash Pd. Singh, Govt. Advocate no. 8 2 30.10.2009 Petitioner is a registered Co-operative Society, whose members are of the Central Society, which is Post and Telegraph Co- operative Society Limited which again is a registered Co-operative Society registered under the provisions of the Bihar Co-operative Societies Act, 1935. The petitioner’s grievance is in two folds. Firstly, the election of the Managing Committee of this governing body i.e. Post and Telegraph Co-operative Society Limited is to be held. He submits that in terms of Section 14 of the Act and in particular sub-section (2) thereof, the Managing Committee has to be constituted of fifteen members whereas the elections are being held only in respect of nine 2 members, which is wrong. Secondly, he submits that as provided in the proviso to sub-section (2) of Section 14, the Managing Committee has to be constituted in the manner providing reservations, as contained therein. It provides that two seats shall be reserved for members belonging to the scheduled castes or scheduled tribes , two seats for the ladies and one seat each for backward and other backward caste. Thus, he submits that if the Managing Committee has to constituted of nine members then at least six seats are to be reserved in the manner prescribed therein, which is not being done. Nominations are being taken from the members in general without resorting to reservation of posts in the Managing Committee, as aforesaid. Learned counsel for the State states that the election is to be conducted under the supervision of the Registrar, Co-operative Societies and there is no material on record to show that the guidelines as provided are statutorily in proviso to Section 14 of sub- section (2) is not being followed. Having heard learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned counsel for the State, in my view, there is no material to show that reservation, as contemplated under proviso to sub-section (2) of Section 14 is not being followed rather a reference to Annexure 3 would show that directions have been issued in that regard as well from the office of the Registrar, Co-operative Societies . However, as an abundant caution I direct Registrar, Co- operative Societies, Bihar to ensure that the reservation as provided and noted above, is strictly followed in the election of the Co- 3 operative Society, as mentioned above. So far as the number of members of the Managing Committee is concerned, the contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner is to be outright rejected, inasmuch as all that it can be said about Sub-section (2) of Section 14 is that the number of members of a Managing Committee shall not be more than fifteen. It does not show that it has to be fifteen. A Managing Committee with nine members is thus a valid Committee, subject to compliance of provision of reservation, as contained in proviso to sub-section (2) of Section 14 of the Act which obliges on the Registrar, Co-operative Societies, Bihar and it is expected that he would not shirk responsibility in this matter and ensure his duty in terms of Rule 21(B) of the Bihar Co-operative Societies Rules, 1957. In case petitioner is still aggrieved, it will be open to the petitioner to move the Registrar, Co-operative Soceities, who would immediately take action in accordance with law in the facts and circumstances of the case. With the aforesaid observations and directions, this application stands disposed of. Singh (Navaniti Prasad Singh, J.)