(1) No act of a society or a committee or any officer, done in good faith in pursuance of the business of the society shall be deemed to be invalid by reason only of some defect subsequently discovered in the organisation of the society, or in the constitution of the committee, or in the appointment or election of an officer, or on the ground that such officer was disqualified for his office.
(2) No act done in good faith by any person appointed under this Act, the rules and the by-laws shall be invalid merely by reason of the fact that his appointment has been cancelled by or in consequence of any order subsequently passed under this Act, rules and the by-laws.
(3) The Registrar shall decide whether any act was done in good faith in pursuance of the business of the society ; and his decision thereon shall be final.
7[77A. 8[Appointment of member of committee, new committee or authorised officers, where there is failure to elect member, to constitute committee or where committee does not enter upon office, etc.]— (1) Where the Registrar is satisfied that,— 9[(1-a) a provisional committee has failed to make necessary arrangements for holding election for the constitution of the first committee, before the expiry of its term as specified in subsection (1A) of section 73 ;]
(a) at the first constitution of the committee of any society there is a failure to elect all or any of the members of the committee;
1 This word and figure were substituted for the words “the next succeeding section” by Mah. 20 of 1986, s. 38(b)(i).
2 These words and figures were substituted for the words and figures “Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898” by Mah. 20 of 1986, s. 38(b)(ii).
3 The marginal note was substituted by Mah. 16 of 2013, s. 43(d).
4 These words were substituted for the words “special general meeting” by Mah. 16 of 2013, s. 43(a).
5 These words were substituted for the words “not exceeding three years” by Mah. 16 of 2013, s. 43(b)(i).
6 These words were substituted for the words “one hundred rupees” by Mah. 16 of 2013, s. 43(b)(ii).
7 Section 77A was inserted by Mah. 36 of 1975, s. 5.
8 The marginal note was substituted by Mah. 16 of 2013, s. 44(i).
9 Clause (1-a) was inserted by Mah. 13 of 1994, s. 6.
64 The Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 [1961 : Mah. XXIV
(b) the term 1[* *] of the committee of any society or of any of its members has expired or for any other reason election is held and there is a failure to elect all or any of the members required to fill the vacancies ;
2[(b-1) there is a stalemate in the constitution or committee has ceased to function and vacuum is created in the management ;]
(c) any committee is prevented from entering upon office ;
(d) a new committee has failed to enter upon office on the date on which the term of office of the existing committee expired ; or 3[* * * * *] 4[(f) where more than one group of persons in a society is claiming to be elected as the committee members and proceedings in respect thereof have been filed in the Co-operatives Court;]
The Registrar may, either suo motu or 5[on the application of any officer or member of the society], by order appoint—
(i) any member or members of the society to be the member or members of the committee to fill the vacancies ;
(ii) a committee, consisting of not more than three members of the society, or 6[one or more authorised officers], who need not be members of the society, to manage the affairs of the society till a new committee enters upon office :
Provided that, before making such order, the Registrar shall publish a notice on the notice board at the head office of the society, inviting objections and suggestions with respect to the proposed order within a period specified in the notice and consider all objections and suggestions received by him within that period:
Provided further that, it shall not be necessary to publish such notice in any case where Registrar is satisfied that immediate action is required to be taken or that it is not reasonably practical to publish such notice:
7[* * *]
(2) The Committee or 8[authorised officer] so appointed shall, subject to the control of the Registrar and to such instructions as he may, from time to time, give, have power to discharge all or any of the functions of the committee or of any officer of the society, and take all such action as may be required to be taken in the interests of the society.
9[(3) The Committee or 10[authorised officer] so appointed shall hold office for a period of 11[twelve months] from the date of assuming the management of the society and shall make necessary arrangements for constituting a new committee within the said period and for enabling the new committee including any new committee referred to in clause (f) of sub-section (1), which is determined by the Court to have been legally elected, to enter upon office:]
12[* *] 1 The words “or extended term, as the case may be,” were deleted by Mah. 16 of 2013, s. 44(a).
2 Clause (b-1) was inserted by Mah. 16 of 2013, s. 44(b).
3 Clause (e) was deleted by Mah. 34 of 2001, s. 7.
4 Clause (f) was inserted by Mah. 20 of 1986, s. 39(a)(ii).
5 These words were substituted for the words “on the application of any officer of the society” by Mah. 16 of 2013, s. 44(c)(i).
6 These words were substituted for the words “one or more administrators” by Mah. 16 of 2013, s. 44(c)(ii).
7 This proviso was deleted by Mah. 28 of 2022, s. 10(1).
8 These words were substituted for the word “Administrator” by Mah. 16 of 2013, s. 44(e).
9 Sub-section (3) was substituted by Mah. 20 of 1986, s. 39(b).
10 These words were substituted for the word “Administrator” by Mah. 16 of 2013, s. 44(f)(i).
11 These words were substituted for the words “six months” by Mah. 28 of 2022, s. 10(2)(i).
12 The provisos were deleted by Mah. 16 of 2013, s. 44(f)(ii).
1961 : Mah. XXIV] The Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 65 1[Provided that, in no circumstances the term of office of the committee or authorised officer shall exceed 2[twelve months] from the date of their holding office.]
3[(4) The Registrar shall have the power to change the committee or any or all members thereof or any or all the 4[authorised officers] appointed under sub-section (1) at his discretion even before the expiry of the period specified in the order made under sub-section (1).
(5) The provisions of 5[sub-section (2) of section 78A] shall apply mutatis mutandis for fixation of remuneration to be paid to 6[authorised officers] appointed under sub-section (1).]] 7[78. Power of suspension of committee.— (1) If, in the opinion of the Registrar, the committee makes a persistent default in performance of its duties or is negligent in the performance of its duties or is otherwise not discharging its functions properly and diligently, or there is a stalemate in the constitution or functioning of the committee, occasioned by resignation, disqualification of members of committee or otherwise, the Registrar, after giving the committee an opportunity of showing cause, in writing, if any, within fifteen days from the date of receipt of notice and after giving reasonable opportunity of being heard and after consultation with the federal society to which the society is affiliated, comes to a conclusion that the charges mentioned in the notice prima facie exist, but are capable of being remedied with, he may by order,—
(i) keep the committee under suspension for such temporary period, not exceeding 8[twelve months] as may be specified in the order ; and
(ii) appoint an administrator or committee of administrators consisting of three or more members of the society otherwise than the members of the committee so suspended in its place or appoint an administrator or committee of administrators who need not be the members of the society, to manage the affairs of society :
Provided that, nothing in this sub-section shall apply to a society, where there is no Government shareholding or loan or financial assistance in terms of any cash or kind or any guarantee by the Government:
Provided further that, in case of a society carrying on the business of banking, the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (10 of 1949), shall also apply :
9[* * *]
Provided also that, the Registrar shall have the power to change the committee or any member thereof or Administrator appointed, at his discretion even, before the expiry of the period specified in the order made under this section :
Provided also that, such federal society shall communicate its opinion, to the Registrar within forty-five days from the date of receipt of communication, failing which it shall be presumed that such federal society has no objection to the order of suspension and the Registrar shall be at liberty to proceed further to take action accordingly.
(2) The administrator or committee of administrators, as the case may be, so appointed under clause
(ii) of sub-section (1), shall submit a report to the Registrar within such period as may be specified in the order as to the remedial measures taken and after going through the report or any other material placed on record, if the Registrar is satisfied that the charges mentioned in the notice are made good or remedied, he shall by order revoke, the order of suspension and direct the administrator or the committee of administrators to handover the management to the suspended committee with immediate effect.
1 This proviso was substituted by Mah. 16 of 2013, s. 44(f)(iii).
2 These words were substituted for the words “six months” by Mah. 28 of 2022, s. 10(2)(ii).
3 Sub-sections (4) and (5) were added by Mah. 20 of 1986, s. 39(c).
4 These words were substituted for the word “administrators” by Mah. 16 of 2013, s. 44(g).
5 These words, brackets, figures and letter were substituted for the words, brackets, figures and letter “sub-section (2A) of section 78” by Mah. 16 of 2013, s. 44(h)(i).
6 These words were substituted for the words “the members or administrators” by Mah. 16 of 2013, s. 44(h)(ii).
7 Section 78 was substituted by Mah. 16 of 2013, s. 45.
8 These words were substituted for the words “six months” by Mah. 28 of 2022, s. 11(1).
9 This proviso was deleted by Mah. 28 of 2022, s. 11(2).
66 The Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 [1961 : Mah. XXIV
(3) When a notice is issued against any committee or a member under sub-section (1), if resignation from any office is tendered by the committee or a member, it shall not be valid or effective until two months have elapsed from the date of issue of the notice or until it is permitted to be accepted by the Registrar, whichever is earlier.
(4) The administrator or committee of administrators so appointed shall, subject to the control of the Registrar and such instructions as he may from time to time give, have power to exercise all or any of the functions of the committee or of any officer of the society and take all such actions as may be required in the interest of the society and shall arrange for conduct of the election, through the State Cooperative Election Authority, within the period specified and handover the management to the newly elected Committee in accordance with the Act, rules and by-laws of the society. The administrator or committee of administrators so appointed as aforesaid, shall notwithstanding anything contained in the by-laws, have power to call a special general body meeting of the society to review or reconsider the decisions or the resolutions taken or passed at the general body meeting called by the previous committee or to endorse the action taken by it.
(5) The conditions of service of the administrator shall be fixed by the Registrar which shall include the remuneration payable to him and expenses of management. Such remuneration and expenses shall be payable out of the funds of the society within such time and at such intervals as the Registrar may fix, and if such remuneration or expenses are not paid within such time or at intervals, the Registrar may direct the person having custody of the funds of the society to pay to the administrator or committee of administrators such remuneration and expenses in priority to any other payments, except land revenue, any arrears of land revenue, or any sum recoverable from the society as arrears of land revenue, and he shall, so far as the funds to the credit of the society allow, comply with the orders of the Registrar.
(6) All acts done or purported to be done by the administrator or committee of administrators during the period the affairs of the society are carried on by the administrator or committee of administrators appointed under sub-section (1) shall be binding on the new committee.]