The High Court of Kerala bench comprising the Hon’ble N. Nagaresh stated that in a dispute related to the election of the Managing Committee of any Society when in question under the Co-operative Society Act, the Petitioner should not seek remedy under extraordinary jurisdiction of Section 226 of the Indian Constitution.
Brief Facts: The members of the Primary Co-operative Agricultural and Rural Development Bank, Thiruvalla filed a Writ petition to obtain the documentation necessary to approve the nominations of Respondent no. 1 to 9.
Contentions of the Petitioner: The Petitioners had argued that the information given by the Secretary to the Returning Officer via Ext. P4 (True copy of the communication dated 17.10.2023 containing the details of the candidates.) shows that the Respondents were either in default or suffered from disqualifications under the terms of the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act, rules, or/ and bye-laws. Therefore, the nominations were illegal, and the Returning Officer improperly utilized power.
Contentions of the Respondent: The Respondents filed a counter affidavit stating that the writ petition is not maintainable as the Petitioners have another alternative remedy i.e. to file the case via Section 69 of the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act under the ambit of the Co-operative Arbitration Court. Further, they contested their eligibility as ‘A Class Members’ of The Bank holding a minimum no. of shares as required.
Observations of the Court: The Hon’ble High Court observed that "The allegations made by the petitioners in the writ
petition are disputed questions of fact. This Court has held in the judgments in Subramanian v. Devicolam Taluk Plantation Workers Coop. Credit Society [2004 (3) KLT SN 145], Jayavarma K. V. State Co-operative Election Commission and others [2017 (1) KLT 921], Kuttiyachan Joseph and another v. P.V.Manoharan and others [2018 (3) KLT 631] and in Chala Farmers Welfare Co-operative
Society v. Sahadevan [2020 (2) KLT 531] that when Section 69 of the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act, 1969 specifically
provides a remedy for the resolution of the dispute in connection with the election to the Managing Committee of any Society, such
disputes have to be called in question under Section 69 of the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act, 1969".
The decision of the Court: Therefore, the Hon’ble Court held that it is of the view that extraordinary jurisdiction u/s 226 of the Indian Constitution should not be utilized as the remedy in case of another resort available under the 1969 Act of Kerala Co-operative Societies to deal with any issue related to elections.
Case Title: Advocate Rajesh Kumar C v Prasad M Cherian
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice N. Nagaresh
Case No.: W.P.(C) No. 34804 of 2023
Advocate for Petitioner: Senior Counsel Mr. George Poonthottam, Adv Ms. Nisha George, Adv Mr. Anshin K.K
Advocate for Respondent: Adv. C.M. Nazar, Adv. T.P.Pradeep, Adv. Arun Chandran, Adv. Minikumary M.V., Adv. P.K.Sathees Kumar, Adv. R.K.Prasanth, and, Adv. Jijo Joseph
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