Court Rules Interim Committee Lacks Power to Induct or Remove Members; Registrar's Ratification of Such Resolutions Held Ultra Vires
In a significant judgment dated October 1, 2026, the Allahabad High Court (Division Bench) in the case of Srinagar Sahakari Awas Samiti Ltd. & Another v. State of UP & Others has delivered a crucial ruling on the powers of Interim Committees appointed under the U.P. Co-operative Societies Act, 1965. The Court held that an Interim Committee of Management, appointed under Section 29(4-B) of the Act, is only a temporary arrangement to manage routine affairs of a cooperative society and has no authority to induct new members or remove existing members from the Society.
The background of the case involves the petitioner society, a primary housing cooperative registered under the Act, whose elected Committee of Management ceased to exist after its term expired. An Interim Committee was appointed by the Additional Housing Commissioner/Additional Registrar with explicit directions restricting it from inducting or removing members. Despite this, the Interim Committee passed a resolution removing 22 members and attempted to induct 13 new members. The Registrar acted upon this resolution and declared the appointment of the Society's Secretary void.
The petitioners challenged the Registrar's order dated August 27, 2026, before the High Court, contending that the Interim Committee had no jurisdiction to alter the membership and that the Registrar's order was passed without affording a fair hearing. They further argued that the Registrar's power under Section 128 to annul resolutions does not extend to ratifying ultra vires resolutions passed by the Interim Committee.
The Court scrutinized the statutory scheme under Section 29 of the U.P. Co-operative Societies Act, 1965, the relevant Rules of 1968, and prior Supreme Court and Allahabad High Court precedents. It emphasized that the Interim Committee's role is to maintain day-to-day operations pending fresh elections and that it must operate under the Registrar's directions, which in this case expressly prohibited member induction or removal.
The Court relied heavily on the principles laid down in K. Shantaraj v. M.L. Nagraj (1997), Jt. Registrar of Co-operative Societies, Kerala v. T.A. Kuttappan (2000), and Vijay Shankar Rai v. State of U.P. (2009) to affirm that democratic functioning and membership composition management are powers exclusively vested in the elected Committee of Management. The Interim Committee cannot usurp these powers or take policy decisions affecting the constitution of the cooperative society.
Accordingly, the Court quashed the Registrar's impugned order which acted on the resolution of the Interim Committee to remove members and declared it unsustainable. However, it refused the prayer to reinstate the petitioner as Secretary since the Interim Committee was still functional. The Court clarified that the competent authority may pass a fresh order under Section 128 of the Act in accordance with law but must not act on any resolution passed by the Interim Committee regarding membership changes.
This judgment reaffirms the statutory and judicial safeguards protecting the democratic structure of cooperative societies and restricts the powers of interim management bodies to routine administration without altering membership rights.
Bottom Line:
U.P. Co-operative Societies Act, 1965 - Interim Committee of Management appointed under Section 29(4-B) is only a temporary arrangement to manage routine affairs of society and has no authority to induct new members or remove existing members - Registrar also cannot, under Section 128, act upon or ratify such resolution of Interim Committee - Order passed on basis of such resolution liable to be quashed.
Statutory provision(s):
U.P. Co-operative Societies Act, 1965 Sections 29(4-B), 29(4-C), 29(4-D), 128; U.P. Co-operative Societies Rules, 1968 Rules 438, 438-A
Srinagar Sahakari Awas Samiti Ltd. v. State of UP, (Allahabad)(DB) : Law Finder Doc Id # 2991797
