In a blow to the ambitions of the high-flying cooperator of Bihar Sunil Singh, Patna High Court has stayed the Central Registrar’s order granting status of the multi state cooperative society to Biscomaun. This means Biscomaun cannot continue with the election presently underway to elect the new board.
Biscomaun’s transparency Sunil Singh always boasted about, has already elected about 208 delegates whose details are posted on its site. Nobody is sure about their fate as they were elected following the MSCS Act stayed by High Court.
Quoting reasons the High Court ruled “there shall be stay of all the further proceedings including the one passed by the Central Government granting registration of the Society under Section 103 of the 2002 Act till further orders.”
If it is no more the multi state society, it cannot continue holding the election underway, said Senior Advocate Bindhyachal Rai representing Vinay Shahi who was accepted as the Intervenor in the case by the High Court.
The court observed ” we find that State Reorganization took place in the year 2000 whereas the Board of Directors of Bihar State Co-operative Marketing Union Limited (for short, ‘the Society’), which was elected in the year 2012, approached this Court directly, and not through the Managing Director of the Society; with a prayer for directing the Central Government to register the Society under Section 103 of the Multi State Cooperative Societies Act. “
The Court ruled “ A serious doubt arises as to whether there is any locus standi or competence for the Board to file a writ petition.”
In the next paragraph of the ruling the High Court observed “ under Section 14 (3) (x) of the Bihar Cooperative Societies Act, it is only the Managing Director of the Society who is conferred with the power to institute or defend proceedings in a court of law in relation to the Society whereas the present writ petition was filed by the so called elected member of the Board of Directors.
”The matter needs to be examined in detail. Hence there shall be stay of all the further proceedings including the one passed by the Central Government granting registration of the Society under Section 103 of the 2002 Act till further orders.