Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No. 6078 of 2015. Case: Meena Devi Vs The State of Bihar and Ors.. High Court of Patna (India)
| Case Number | Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No. 6078 of 2015 |
| Counsel | For Appellant: Yogendra Mishra and Kaushalesh Choudhary, Advs. and For Respondents: Binay Kr. Pandey, AC to GA |
| Judges | Jyoti Saran, J. |
| Issue | Bihar Cooperative Societies Act, 1935 - Section 48(7); Bihar State Election Authority Act, 2008 - Sections 10, 12, 12(1)(d)(iv), 13, 13(2), 14, 17; Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC) - Order XLVII Rules 1, 47 |
| Judgement Date | October 13, 2015 |
| Court | High Court of Patna (India) |
Judgment:
Jyoti Saran, J.
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Heard Mr. Yogendra Mishra, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner, learned counsel for the State and Ms. Mahasweta Chatterjee, learned counsel appearing for the private respondent Nos. 7 and 8. Though notice was issued and served on the non-appearing respondent Nos. 9 to 21 but they have not chosen to appear and respond to the writ petition.
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With the consent of the parties the writ petition has been heard and is being finally disposed of at the stage of admission itself.
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The petitioner is aggrieved by the order dated 6.2.2015/16.2.2015 passed by the Joint Registrar (Marketing) -cum- Additional Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Bihar, Patna in Review Case No. 03 of 2014, whereby the Joint Registrar while recalling his order dated 24.10.2014/13.11.2014 passed in Election Dispute Case No. 176 of 2012 has disposed of the election case. Meaning thereby the election to the Managing Committee has been restored.
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Facts of the case briefly stated is that the election to the Managing Committee of Raghunathpur Prakhand Matasyajivi Sahyog Samiti Limited was questioned by the writ petitioner in Election Dispute Case No. 176 of 2012, inter alia, on grounds of infracted voter-list and that the outsiders had voted in the election. According to the petitioner, Raghunathpur Matsyajivi Sahyog Samiti Ltd. was reconstituted in the light of the statutory provisions underlying section 11-B of the Bihar Cooperative Societies Act, 1935 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') having its area of operation within the Raghunathpur Block. In the amalgamation process, two self-supporting societies registered under the Bihar Self Supporting Cooperative Societies Act, 1996, namely Raghunathpur Prakhand Adarsh Matasyajivi Swablambi Sahkari Samiti Ltd. Usari and Bishunpura Matasyajivi Swablambi Sahkari Samiti Ltd. got amalgamated along with Raghunathpur Prakhand Matasyajivi Sahyog Samiti Ltd. which was registered under 'the Act' to form Raghunathpur Prakhand Matasyajivi Sahkari Sahyog Samiti Limited. According to the writ petitioner, despite the amalgamation to form new society whose area of operation was only within the Raghunathpur Block, the membership and voter-list consisted of members who were residents of Andar and Hasanpura Block have been included as members and who were also included in the voter-list and since these persons were permitted to participate in the election hence the entire election stood invalidated.
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The private respondents appeared in the election dispute, filed show cause in which the argument was contested and it was stated that it is only the members of the operational area who have participated in the election and not any outsider. It was further the contention of the private respondents that no objection at the time of amalgamation was raised by the election petitioner as to the membership issue and hence it has attained finality. It is further their case that in the election one of the election petitioners has also participated and since the result has gone otherwise that the issue of membership is raised which is beyond the scope of the election dispute.
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The election case was allowed in favour of the election petitioner and the election of Raghunathpur Matasyajivi Sahkari Sahyog Samiti Limited was set aside. The respondent No. 8 as a Secretary of the Society preferred a review application under section 48(7) of 'the Act' giving rise to Review Case No. 03 of 2014 which was admitted by the Joint Registrar on 26.12.2014/30.12.2014 and the operation of the order passed in Election Dispute Case No. 176 of 2012 was stayed and the parties were directed to address on the review application. The review application has been allowed, inter alia, on grounds that no outsider had participated in the election and that the election petitioner having participated in the election could not question the same on the ground of infracted voter-list. The order passed in the election dispute having been recalled that one of the election petitioner, namely, Meena Devi is before this Court. The other election petitioner who is respondent No. 21 has not chosen to contest the review order.
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Mr. Yogendra Mishra, learned counsel has appeared for the petitioner to question the review order on the following grounds:
(a) Section 10 read with section 13 of the Bihar State Election Authority Act, 2008 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Election Authority Act') confirms that since after enforcement of 'the Election Authority Act' the election to...
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