Vijay Kumar Jha and Ors. v. Divisional Joint Registrar Co. Op. Societies Mumbai Division and Ors.
Case brief
What is this about?
Bombay High Court (Amit Borkar, J.), Writ Petition No. 16253 of 2025 with Interim Application No. 13636 of 2025, Vijay Kumar Jha & Ors. v. The Divisional Joint Registrar, Cooperative Societies & Ors., decided 2 December 2025: collective five-year disqualification of the entire Managing Committee under Section 75(5) of the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1960 quashed for want of focussed findings isolating individual culpability; court applies Kailash Maheshwari v. State of Maharashtra (W.P. No. 10587 of 2025, decided 25 September 2025) and remands to Respondent No. 2 for fresh, reasoned, individualised adjudication within eight weeks, appearance on 15 December 2025; petitioners' defences (demolished building, papers withheld by previous committee, election of 30 July 2023) to be tested as possible reasonable cause.
What did the court decide?
Orders passed by Respondent No. 1 and Respondent No. 2 quashed and set aside to the extent they effect collective disqualification; matter remitted to Respondent No. 2 for fresh adjudication after hearing both sides, applying the Kailash Maheshwari tests, to conclude within eight weeks from appearance; parties directed to appear before Respondent No. 2 on 15 December 2025 at 10:30 a.m.; writ petition disposed of and interim application disposed of as not surviving.