IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) WEDNESDAY, THE TWENTY SECOND DAY OF OCTOBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE L.NARASIMHA REDDY WRIT PETITION NO.24873 of 2006 Between: Fishermen Co-operative Society Bhongir repby its President Sri Bhonaboyina Narasimha S/o Sattaiah, R/o Bhongir (V&M) Nalgonda District. ...PETITIONER AND 1 The Commissioner of Fisheries Department of Fisheries, Matsya Bhavan, Santhinagar, Vijayanagar Colony, Hyderabad. 2 The Deputy Director of Fisheries nalgonda, Nalgonda District. 3 The Assistant Director of Fisheries Nalgonda, Nalgonda District. 4 Fisheries Development Officer Bhongir, Nalgonda District. ...RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Aﬃdavit ﬁled herein the High Court will be pleased to issue a Writ, order or direction more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus declaring the action of the respondents in insisting the petitioner society to admit new members as members of the Fishermen Co-operative society of Bhongir including the notice No. 187/E/206 dated 7-11-2006 as bad arbitrary and contrary to the norms speciﬁed in Memo NO. 26130/F(1)/83, dated 23-12-1983 and also the provisions of the AP Co- operative Societies Act, 1964 apart from oﬀends Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution of India, and pass such other order or orders. Counsel for the Petitioner: MS.M.VIDYAVATHI Counsel for the Respondents: GP FOR FISHERIES The Court made the following: THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE L.NARASIMHA REDDY WRIT PETITION NO.24873 of 2006 ORDER: The petitioner is a Fishermen Co-operative Society. It feels aggrieved by the steps said to have been taken by the Assistant Director of Fisheries, Nalgonda- the third respondent, insisting that the petitioner should admit new members. It is stated that the existing membership is commensurate with the area of operation and there is no scope for admitting any further members. On behalf of the respondents, a counter aﬃdavit has been ﬁled stating that no speciﬁc orders have been issued for admission. Relevant provisions of law are quoted and it is stated that the Writ Petition is without any cause of action. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Government Pleader for Fisheries. Section 19 of the A.P. Co-operative Societies Act, 1964 (“the Act” for brevity) and the relevant rules prescribe the procedure for admission of members and the byelaws of the Society prescribe the qualiﬁcations to be possessed by the members for being admitted as members as well as the circumstances, under which they can be admitted. Though, it is alleged that the Assistant Director of Fisheries is compelling the petitioner to admit new members, nothing is placed before this Court to substantiate the same. In fact, Section 19 of the Act itself mandates that a person intending to become a member can approach the Society itself seeking membership and if his application is not accepted, he can approach the Functional Registrar. None of such eventualities are mentioned in the Writ Petition. Therefore, the Writ Petition is dismissed leaving it open to the petitioner to work out its remedies as and when specific directions are issued for admission of new members. _____________________ (L.NARASIMHA REDDY, J) 22nd October 2008 RRB