Hon'ble V.K.Dixit, J.
Heard learned counsel for parties and perused the records.
Vide order dated 21.6.2010, a vacation Bench passed an interim order restraining opposite party no. 4 from functioning as a parallel committee of the Northern Railway Primary Cooperative Bank Ltd. (for short 'NRPCBL') till further orders with direction to allow the Elected Committee of management of NRPCBL to function. It may not be out of place to give a brief background in order to understand the present controversy. This Court vide a detailed judgment dated 27.04.2010 in Writ Petition No. 1357(M/B) of 2010, authored by one of us (Uma Nath Singh,J.), held that the NRPCBL is a deemed Multi-State Cooperative Society and thus directed the Central Registrar to register the Bank as such. It appears from the counter affidavit of O.P.No. 4 that the State Cooperative Department and one private respondent preferred two Special Leave Petitions [SLP (C) No. 15920 of 2010 and SLP (C) No. 8612 of 2010] in Supreme Court against that judgment and the same were dismissed as withdrawn with liberty to file review petition.
Pursuant to the order passed by this Court as aforesaid the NRPCBL was registered as a Multi-state Cooperative Society vide certificate bearing No.MSCS/CR/349/2010 dated 26.05.2010 under Section 103 of the Multi-state Cooperative Societies Act, 2002 (for short 'The Central Act'). Despite the facts that the society was registered as a multi-state cooperative society under the mandate of order of this Court dated 27.04.2010 after the requisite formalities were completed, the petitioner has made contemptuous averments in the writ petition as follows:
"21. That without complying the aforesaid procedure of registration, the Central Registrar (cooperation) New Delhi i.e. opposite party no. 3 has issued a certificate of registration dated 26.05.2010 registering the Bank under Multi State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002. As the aforesaid registration certificate of Central Registrar is subject to any order passed by the Hon'ble High Court as well as Hon'ble Supreme Court, therefore, the petitioner is not praying for quashing of the aforesaid registration certificate in the instant writ petition."
It is also worth noticing that certain facts which were considered in the writ petition no.1357 (MB) of 2010, have again been mentioned in paragraphs 22 to 26 of the writ petition. Surprisingly enough, paragraphs 25 and 26 of the petition seem to be highly supportive of the acts of DRM and other officers in the managerial cadre of Northern Railway. These paragraphs on reproduction read as:-
"25. That in parallel, the Divisional Rail Manager, who is the Chairman of the Bank and is also working as Chairman by virtue of his post, has opposed by orders dated 07.05.2010 and 14.05.2010 declaring the meeting dated 03.05.2010 of alleged committee of management headed by opposite party no.4 as null and void. Further vide order dated 14.05.2010, the Chairman of the Bank has also set aside the agenda of propose meeting dated 19.05.2010.
26. That vice Chairman of the Bank who is also Senior Divisional Finance Manager of the Northern Railway Lucknow has wrote a letter dated 04.05.2010 to the Secretary of the Bank stating therein that no such instruction has been given by the Hon'ble High Court and therefore he cannot work as a Secretary and for all the action he himself will be held responsible."
It is mentioned that as a result of interim order dated 24.01.2007 passed in Writ Petition No.516 (MB) of 2007, the election for the post of Chairman and Vice Chairman could not be held and the Committee of Management of the Bank comprising of 13 members including one Ex-officio Chairman and 4 Ex-officio Vice Chairman was constituted by the Election Officer namely Deputy Collector, Lucknow, and the same was notified by District Assistant Registrar, Cooperative Societies, U.P., vide letter no.34 dated 19.06.2009, however, two seats were still left vacant. Finally, writ petition no.516 (MB) of 2007 was dismissed as withdrawn vide order dated 27.01.2010. As a result, the election for the post of Chairman and Vice Chairman became due under the provisions of U.P. Cooperative Societies Act, 1965, and now also under the Central Act. Thereafter, the nominations made by DRM, Northern Railway, Lucknow to the Committee of Management of Bank was rejected by the Committee in its meeting dated 23.01.2010. Further, as the area of operation of the Bank covered 2 states namely the State of U.P. and Uttarakhand, an application for registration of society under the Central Act was also moved which was finally allowed in terms of the directions of this Court dated 27.04.2010. Knowing the aforesaid background, the petitioner filed this writ petition while relying upon some orders relating to different controversies which had arisen prior to the passing of judgment by this Court on 27.04.2010 declaring the NRPCBL as a deemed multi-state cooperative society. Now, the posts of Chairman and Vice Chairman are to be elected by the Board of Directors from among themselves. Terms of office of Chairman and Vice Chairman have been made coterminous with the terms of the elected members of the Board unless the Chairman or the Vice Chairman ceases to be a Director earlier. Thus, the election notification for the post of Chairman and Vice Chairman was notified on 17.06.2010 by Returning Officer and the election was to be held on 26.06.2010. However, as the petitioner filed this writ petition where in the interim stay in respect of prayer for restraining the opposite party no.4 from functioning as parallel committee, was granted by the Coordinate Vacation Bench, the election to the post of Chairman or Vice Chairman could not be conducted and thus the DRM, Northern Railway, Lucknow, has managed to continue as the Chairman of the Bank.
It would be worth mentioning that vide the order of this Court dated 27.04.2010, certain directions had also been issued to State authorities as well as railway officers to desist from interfering in the independent functioning of the Society. However, from the averments made in the counter affidavit filed on behalf of opposite party no.4, it would be discernible that the Divisional Railway Manager, Northern Railway, Lucknow, just in order to perpetuate his position as an Ex-Officio Chairman of the NRPCBL has been instrumental in sponsoring this litigation while suppressing some essential facts like the directions issued by this Court vide the order dated 27.04.2010, registration of society as a multi-state cooperative society in July, 2010, and dismissal of two special leave petitions filed by the State Government and one private party against the aforesaid order. Besides, it is revealed from the supplementary counter affidavit filed by opposite party no.4 that even after registration of NRPCBL as a multi-state cooperative society, certain amendments as proposed in the bye-laws having been found to be inconsonance with the provisions of Multi-state Cooperative Societies Act, 2002, were registered by the Central Registrar and again re-affirmed vide its order dated 16.09.2010. It is averred in the supplementary affidavit that the Joint Registrar, Cooperative Societies, U.P., had withdrawn the order dated 23.01.2010 and this fact has been noticed in the order dated 27.04.2010 passed by this Court. Thus, the Joint Registrar, Cooperative Societies, U.P., could not have passed any such order which can be said to be inconsistent with the conduct of withdrawal by the Joint Registrar as aforesaid. It is again asserted in the supplementary counter affidavit that the DRM, Northern Railway, Lucknow, only in order to obstruct the election to the posts of Chairman and Vice Chairman scheduled to be held on 26.05.2010 sponsored this writ petition. That apart, there is a categorical denial of the allegation that the opposite party no.4 is running a parallel committee and obstructing the functioning of the management of Bank.
However, as there is a consensus among learned counsel for parties that a direction be issued for holding the election for the post of Chairman or Vice Chairman under some senior railway officer like the Chief Personnel Officer, Northern Railway, who is posted in Delhi, we dispose of this writ petition and vacate the interim order dated 21.06.2010 with direction to Chairman, Railway Board, to ensure conducting of a fair and impartial election for the post of Chairman and Vice Chairman in terms of the bye-laws registered with and by Central Registrar under the provisions of Multi-state Cooperative Societies Act, 2002, within 4 weeks from the date of receiving a copy of this order. Moreover, during the interregnum period, the Chief Personnel Officer, Northern Railway, Delhi, apart from acting as Observer during the election process shall also exercise the powers of Chairman/Administrator of the Bank (the NRPCBL). The Chairman, Railway Board shall also make a note of our observations made herein.
This writ petition is, thus, disposed of.
12.10.2010 Amit/A. Katiyar.