Bihar JDU government’s attempt to fill up PACS with its supporters was thwarted by the efforts of Sunil Singh, Chairman of Biscomaun and his team. Patna High Court has stayed the controversial order issued by the Registrar of cooperative.
The petitioners which included Dr Sunil Kr Singh, Dasrath Singh and Raghuvansh Narayan Singh and other challenged the direction issued by the Registrar, Co-operative Society to various district authorities to, inter alia, ensuring that each Primary Agriculture Co-operative Society (for brevity „PACS?), which is an independent body to enroll minimum number of members and, consequent directions, being issued by the district authorities.
The submissions of the petitioners is that the PACS are independent juristic entity and neither the State nor the Registrar, Co-operative Society is authorized to interfere in the working.
The Patna High Court ruled that merely because the law requires PACS to be registered under the Co-operative Act does not mean that they become part of the State where State can issue directions with regard to various aspects. Prima facie, the contentions appears to be correct.
The ruling further expounded that “Let learned counsel for the State take instructions and file a comprehensive counter affidavit in the matter. In the meantime, till further orders of this Court, Annexure-1, the direction of the Registrar, Co-operative Society dated 25.03.2013 to the district authorities and Annexure-5, the consequential directions issued by the district authorities to the petitioners? PACS shall remain stayed”.
It was draconian and the state government aimed at acquiring more than one crore voter before the Parliamentary election. Each district issued order to respective PACS to go ahead with enrolling more than 1000 new members in each PACs, Mr Singh added.
The move would have weakened cooperative institution and boosted JDU’s vote bank, a relieved Biscomaun Chairman shared with Indian Cooperative.
Dynamic and young Mr Sunil Singh had been in news recently when he took on the high-profile IAS officer C K Anil. As MD Anil had lay seize of Biscomaun and did not allow the elected Board to function. The fight generated lots of muck but ultimately forced C K Anil to leave Biscomaun thereby boosting Sunil’s stock among fellow cooperators.