Disposed

The Advocates Mutually Aided Co-operative Society Limited v. The State of Telangana

Telangana HC10 Jul 2025WP/15078/2025

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

A writ petition challenging refusal to register amendments to a cooperative society's bye-laws for want of quorum. Holding that the registered bye-laws prescribed no quorum, the Court held two-thirds present-and-voting sufficed, directed registration of the amended bye-laws, and advised adding a quorum provision.

What did the court decide?

Second respondent directed to register the amended bye-laws if otherwise in order; miscellaneous applications closed; no costs.

The Advocates Mutually Aided Co-operative Society… — Cooperative Societies | Telangana HC (2025)

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I321e l

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HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction)

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THURSDAY, THE TENTH DAY OF JULY TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE

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PRESENT

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THE HONOURABLE SMT JUSTICE T,MADHAVI DEVI

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WRIT PETITION NO: 15078 O F 2025

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Between:

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The Advocates M,yt"r:tIV^Aiqgg bo_operative Society Limited, (Reoistration No AMC/HyD(U) MACS'-ee(27i cne6iii'iiv _civlr court preniisei, Diwan Devdi Hyderabad-sooooz $p. by it; S;;l"ir.y sri r. Sridhar

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AND

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...PET|T!oNER

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The State of Telangana, Rep: by its principal Secretary Co_operation Department

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, Mutuaily Aided Co-operative Society/ District Co-operative

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5?r?.3;r,l.r,jgrof Registrar, Mutuallv Aided co-operative society charminar,

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t llfii:;:rnt

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The Joint Registrari District Co_operative Officer, Hyderabad

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...RESPONDENTS

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Petition under Articre 226 0f the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit fired therewith, the High court may be pleased to issue of Writ. order or direction in the nature of mandamus (1) by declaring the action of the 2nd Respondent in issuing the impugned order dated 07.05.2025 bearing R.C. No. 3g41t2024_MACS as violative of the Telangana Mutually Aided co-operative societies Act,19g5 and arso viorative of principres of naturar justice and arso viorative of Articre .r 4 0f the constitution of India and declare the same as non-est in raw and consequenry direct the 2nd Respondent to register the amendments made to the existing bye-raws of the petitioner society pursuant to the minutes of the meetings herd by the petitioner which are in consonance with rerangana Mutuary Aided co-operative societies Act, 1g95 (amended) as per G.O.Ms. No. 28 dated 19t04t2016.

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lA NO: 1 OF 2025

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Petition under Section^'151 cPC praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed in support of the petition, the High Court may be pleased to suspend the impugned order dated O7lO5l2O25 bearing R.C. No. 3941t2024IVACS.

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lA NO: 2 OF 2025

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Petition under Section 151 cPC praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed in support of the petition, the High Court may be pleased to permit the Petitioner society to conduct.elections as per the amended bye-laws of the society which are approved by the General Body.

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Counsel for the Petitioner: SRt SUNTL B.GANU, SENTOR COUNSEL FOR M/s. MANJARI S GANU

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Counsel for the Respondents: GP FOR COOPERATION

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The Court made the following:ORDER

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THE HONOURABLE SMT. JUSTICE T. MADHAVI DBVI

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WRIT PETITIONNo.15078 0F 2025

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ORDER

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In this Writ petition, the petitioner is seeking a Writ of Mandamus declaring the tmpugned order of the 2"d respondent dt.07.05.2025 bearing R.C.No.394ll2024_MACS as violative of the Telangana Mutua,y Aided Co-operative 'societies Act, lgg5 and also in violation of principles of natural jmtice and also violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India and to declare the same as non_est in law and to consequently direct the 2nd respondent to register the amendments made to the existing bye-laws of the petitioner society pursuant to the minutes of the meetings held by the petitioner in consonance with the Telangana Mutually Aided co-operative Societies Act, 1gg5 and to pass such other order or orders.

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2' Brief facts leading to the filing of the present writ petition are that the petitioner society was formed in the year l99g with the objective of improving the economic and sociar betterment and welfare of its members, i.e., advocates through mutual aid, thrift and self help in

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accordance^{with the principleol cooperation as enunciated in Section3} of the Telangana^{Mutually AidedCo-operativeSocietiesAct, 1995(for} short, "the TMACS^{Act"). It was registered under the TMACS Act vide} registration No.AMC/LIYD(U)^{MACS-99(27) CREDITand ithas} formulated its^{own bye-laws whichhave been approvedby the Registrar} and has been^{functioning in accordance therewilh. It is stated that the} society consists^{of a Board,whichmeans Boaldof Directors of the} society and the^{Committee of the society consists of the President,Vice-} president, Secretary, Joint Secretary and Treasurer and that the General Body shall in^{its annual election, elect 4 Directors, i'e', one each from} amongst its 4 Constituencies^{every yearfor a period of 3 years so that} there are l2 Dircctors^{of the Boardat anygiven point of time. It is stated} that recently,^{new Courts were establishedat Kukatpally,Medchal-} Malkajgiri, Vikarabad^{due to reorganisationof Ranga ReddyDistrict by} the State Govemment^{apart from alreadyexisting civil Courtsat} Hyderabad and Secunderabad^{and Nampatlyand at L.B'Nagar,Ranga} Reddy District and in^{orderto give proper representationto the members} from the newly formed Courls,^{the General Body meeting of the society} was called for and amendments were proposed to byeJaw No.2(ii), bye-

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law No.7, bye-law No. l5(i) and bye-law No.17 for induction of two

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lady members and one member from SC/ST category to be in compliance wirh the amendments to TMACS Act vide G.O.Ms.No.2g, Agriculture & cooperation (coop.Il) Department, dt.r9.o4.zo26as well. It is stated that General Body meeting was held on 04.0g.2024 which was attended by 1260 members who had passed a resolution to propose amendments in its special meeting to be called for the said purpose and subsequently the speciar Generar Body meeting was held on 03.r1.2024 which was attended by 367 members and all of them unanimously approved the amendments to the bye_laws. Thereafter, the amendments were forwarded to the 2nd respondent for approval. However, the same was not approved on the ground that the totar number of members of the society was 4971, out of which only 367 members have attended the meeting and therefore, the quorum of r/lOth of the total members was not met and therefore, the amendments proposed by the society were not in accordance with the provisions of the TMACS Act. Challenging the same, the present Writ petition has been filed.

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3' Leamed senior counsel appearing for the petitioner has reiterated the submissions made in the writ affidavit and submitted that Section I l of TMACS Act provides for a quorum of General Body meeting to three (3) major decisions, such as change of liability, transfer of assets and t \

W.P.No.15078 of 2025

liabilities, division arld arrralgarnation,^{as two-thirds of the members} present and voting and therefore,^{when the GeneralBody meeting was} attendedby36Tmembersandresolutionswerepassedunanimously,the condition of quorum has been^{futfilled.He submitted that the bye-laws} ofthe society were registered^{in the year1999 and were approved by the} Registrar of Cooperative Societies^{and several amendmentshave been} made thereafter, which were^{all approvedby the Registrar respectively} and therefore, the amendments,^{whichhave now been proposed,are} only to include Directori for^{newlyconstitutedCourts and to induct two} lady members and one SC/ST^{member into the Board of Directors} which cannot be held to be^{not in accordancewith the bye-laws.He} further submitted that in order^{to complywith the requirements of} G.O.Ms.No.2S dt.lg.04.2016,^{the amendments of induction of two lady} members and one SC/ST^{memberwere proposed'However, he} submitted that the said G.O.^{has been challenged by the petitioner} society in^w.P.No.28888 of 2016^{on certain grounds and the Division} Bench of^{this Court} has granted^{stay of the G.O. He submitted that} without^prejudiceto the above, the^{petitioner society can alwaysmake} reservation. ro.,!'its .^own for induction of^{two ladymembersand one}

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SC/ST .there cannot be any bar on^{the same.He therefore}

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a)tl

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prayed that the impugned order be set aside and directions may be given to the respondents to approve the amendment of bye-raws and thereafter to allow the petitioner society to hold General Body meeting for conduct of elections to the Board of Directors

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The petitioner has also filed a copy of the order of the Division Bench of this Court in W.p.No.2gggg of 20l6and batch dt.26.07.2016, whereunder the operation of G.O.Ms.No .2g dt.1g.04.2016 has been stayed until further orders.

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Learned counsel for the petitioner further referred to the impugned order dt.07.05 .2025, whereinthere is reference to Model bye_ law No.lg which also refers to the quorum as two_thirds of the members present and voting. Therefore, according to him, the petitioner has satisfied the condition of quorum even as under the Model bye_law No.l8.

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Leamed Government pleader for Cooperation, on the other hand, relied upon the averments made in the counter affidavit and submitted that under section 9(2)(xiii)and (xviii) of the TMAcs Act, the bye_laws have to provide for quorurm for any general meeting and the bye_laws of the petitioner society did not provide for the same. He submitted that

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under the TMACS Act, the^{quorum providedfor GeneralBody meeting} is one-tenth of the members and^{in this case, since the petitionerdid not} fulfil the quomm, the amendments^{to the bye-lawscould not be} approved. [n respect of the Model^{bye-lawNo. I 8, it is submitted that for} 'I any General Body meeting to^{commence, it should haverequired} quomm as specified in the bye-laws^{and the amendmentwill be passed} at the General Body meeting by^{majority of not less than two-thirds of} the members present and^{voting, whichmeans that out of the required} quomm, two-thirds of the members^{presentshall vote in favour of the} amendment and only then such^{amendmentshall get approved.It is} subrnitted that in this case, one-tenth^{of the members were not presentin} the General Body meeting^{and therefore, the amendments could not} have been passed. In respect of^{the contentionof the petitioner that in} compliance with G.O.Ms.No.28^{dt.19.04.2016,the amendmentto induct} two lady members and one^{SC/ST member has been proposed,she} submitted that the operation of^{the said G.O. has been stayed by the} Division Bench of this Court in^{W.P.No.28888of 2016 fited by the} petitioner society herein and therefore, the^{proposed amendments on} account of G.O.Ms.No.28 cannot be approved.

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7' Having regard to the rivar contentions and the materiar on record, this Court finds that the petitioner society was registered under the Telangana Mutually Aided Cooperative Societies Act, 1995 in the year 1999 and its bye_laws were approved by the Registrar of Cooperative Societies. Section l6 of the Telangana Co_operative Societies Act, 1964 provides for amendment of bye_laws of a sociery and according to Sub_ section (1) thereof, no amendment of any bye_law of a society shall be valid unless the resolution for such amendment is passed at its General meeting by a majority of not less than two_thirds of the members of present and voting and such amendment has been registered under this Act. Rule 23 of the Telangana Co_operative Societies Rules, 1964 prescribes quorum for meeting and it is provided that no general meeting shall be held or proceeded with unless there is a quorum as specified in the'bye-laws provided that the bye_laws shall not specifr quomm which is less than l/lOm of the total members. Under TMACS Act, Section 9 deals with bye_laws and Sub_section (2) thereof refers to the components of the byeJaws of a Co_operative Society and Clause (xiii) thereunder refers to the manner and frequency of convening general meeting and quorum required and Clause (xviii) deals with the manner and frequency of convening board meetlngs and quorum. \ \

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Admittedly, the^{petitioner's bye-laws did not provide for the quorum for} a General Body meeting or^{meeting of the ManagingCommittee.} Section 10 of TMACS^{Act deals with amendmentof bye-lau'sand the} manner in which such amendments^{can be carried out. Section i I of} TMACS Act deals with^{changeof liability,transfer of assetsand} liabilities, division, amalgamation,^{etc., and Sub-section (3) thereof} provides that every resolution of^{a Co-operativeSociety underthis} section shall be passed at iti^{general meeting by a majority of total} members with right of vote or^{two-thirds of members present and voting} whichever is less and such^{resolution shall contain alI particularsof the} liabitity, transfer, division,^{amalgamation as the case may be. In the} guidelines issued for framing^{bye-lawsof a cooperativeunderthe} Telangana Mutually Aided^{Co-operative Societies Act, 1995 issued by} the State Govemment and Guideline^{No.13, it is provided thatthe} quorum for general body may^{range between one-fifth (in the case of} large/scattered membership) and^{one-half(in the case of} small/contiguous^{membership)of the membership, the quorum for the} representative general body should really^{be between one-half and three-} fourths of delegates. In this case, since the^{quorum has not been} provided for in the bye-laws which have been approved^{by the Registrar,}

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the petitioner society cannot be found fault with for proposing the amendments by following the quorum of the two_thirds of the members present and voting. In this case, the proposed amendments are also not going to change the constitution of the society and it is onry providing for reservation of Directors in favour of two ladies and one SC/ST member and also for the representation of the Directors of the four new Courts. Since the amendments were passed unanimously by all the members present and voting, the requirement of quorum of two_thirds of the members present and voting is satisfied in this case.

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Therefore, this Court directs the 2nd respondent to register the amended bye-laws, if they are otherwise ln order, and permit the petitioner to proceed in accordance with such bye_laws. However, in order to bring the society on par with the Modet bye_laws, the petitioner society is advided to amend its bye_laws to provide for quorum for General Body meeting in its bye-laws immediatery in the next General Body meeting to be held after the election to the Board of Directors.

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9 With the above directions, the Writ petition is disposed of. No order as to costs.

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