[45J. Elections of members of board.-- (1) No person shall be eligible to be elected as a member of the board or office bearer of a multi-State co-operative society, unless he is an active member of the general body of that society.
Explanation.--For the purposes of this sub-section, the term "active member" means any member--
(i) availing minimum level of products or services of the society; or
(ii) attending not less than three consecutive general meetings,
as specified in section 29.
(2) A member of the board or office bearer of a multi-State co-operative society shall cease to be such member or office bearer, if he ceases to be a member of general body of that society.
(3) The election of members of board shall be held by secret ballot in such manner as may be prescribed.
(4) The election of the members of the board shall be held in the general meeting of the members of the multi-State co-operative society and the elected members of the board shall, if the bye-laws of such society permit, be eligible for re-election.
(5) The term of office of elected members of the board and its office bearers shall be five years from the date of election and the term of office bearers shall be co-terminus with the term of the board:
Provided that the board may fill casual vacancies up to one-third of number of elected directors on the board by nomination out of the same class of members in respect of which the casual vacancy has arisen, if the term of office of the board is less than half of its original term:
Provided further that in case the number of such casual vacancies in the same term of the board exceeds one-third of number of elected directors, such vacancies shall be filled by elections.
(6) The expenses for holding elections by the Authority shall be borne by the multi-State co-operative society in such manner as may be prescribed.
(7) The Central Government may make rules to provide for the powers and the procedure to be followed by the Authority for conduct of election of members of the board.
(8) The Chairperson and the Chief Executive of the multi-State co-operative society shall inform the Authority, six months before the expiry of the term of the existing board, to conduct the elections within time.
(9) The multi-State co-operative society in respect of which the election is being held shall provide such infrastructure, personnel, information, documents or other assistance to the Authority as it may require.]