The Cooperative Election Authority (CEA) has declared the recent election conducted by the National Industries Development Cooperative Federation Ltd. as illegal, citing a violation of the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Act, 2023.
Despite the establishment of the CEA on March 11, 2024, to oversee free and fair elections for Multi-State Cooperative Societies (MSCS), the federation conducted its own election without CEA’s involvement. As per Section 45(1) of the Act, only the CEA has the authority to conduct, supervise, and control elections for MSCS.
In response, the CEA has summoned the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)/Managing Director of the federation to appear before the authority on March 20, 2025, at 3 PM in Delhi. Failure to comply may result in further action, including disqualification of directors, as per the amended Act.