Authority: High Court of Uttarakhand at Nainital

Order Date: 8 July 2026

Case Overview

  • Petitioner: Govind Singh Bisht, member of a Primary Cooperative Society, claimed to be elected delegate to the Electoral College for reconstituting the Committee of Management of Nainital District Cooperative Bank Ltd.
  • Respondents: State of Uttarakhand and others; the order dated 9 June 2026 appointed a Joint Registrar of Cooperative Societies as Administrator, replacing the Chief Development Officer.
  • Petitioner challenged the appointment, arguing that Section 29(7) of the Uttarakhand Cooperative Societies Act limits an Administrator’s tenure to one year and six months, and that the election for a new Committee must be held within that period.
  • The petitioner also relied on Sections 35(3) and 35(7) of the Act, asserting that the appointment was illegal after the stipulated period.
  • The State counsel cited Section 29(5)(b) and Section 114, contending that the Registrar may appoint an Administrator without a prescribed time limit and that actions taken are not invalidated by procedural defects.
  • The Court examined the statutory language, noting that Section 29(5)(b) authorises the Registrar to appoint an Administrator or a Committee of Administrators “until the reconstitution of the Committee of Management” and contains no outer limit on the Administrator’s tenure.
  • Section 29(7) was interpreted to require the Administrator to arrange for reconstitution within one year and six months of appointment, but it does not prohibit the Administrator from continuing beyond that period.
  • Section 35(3) was held inapplicable because it deals with supersession of a Committee of Management, not the present facts; Section 35(7) merely incorporates Section 29 provisions.
  • Both parties agreed that the election schedule had been published and the election process was to commence on 3 August 2026.

Final Outcome

  • The Court held that the impugned order dated 9 June 2026 was valid; there is no statutory restriction preventing the Administrator from remaining in office beyond one and a half years.
  • Consequently, the writ petition was dismissed in its entirety.

Topics: Cooperative Banking, Administrative Law