(1) An application for registration of a society shall be made to the Registrar in the prescribed manner and shall be accompanied by two copies of the proposed by-laws; and the persons by whom or on whose behalf such application is made shall furnish such information in regard to the society as the Registrar may require.
(2) Where all the applicants are individuals, the number of applicants shall not be less than fifteen, at least twelve of whom must be persons belonging to twelve different families:
Provided that such restrictions shall not apply to engineers' co-operatives:
Provided further that for special reasons, the State Government may, on receipt of application for the purpose, permit registration of societies with lesser number of persons.
Explanation.—For the purpose of sub-section (2), "family" shall be deemed to consist of husband, wife, minor sons and unmarried daughters, dependent wife of predeceased son, if any, together with her minor sons and unmarried daughters, if any and husband's dependent parents.
(3) The State Government may, by rules, prescribe the extent to which a co-operative society may limit the number of its members.
(4) An application for registration of a society shall be disposed of by the Registrar within a period of three months from the date of receipt of such application by him.
(5) An application, which remains undisposed of after the expiry of the aforesaid period of three months, shall be deemed to have been refused by the Registrar.
14. The Registrar shall decide all questions as to whether the application complies with the provisions of this Act and the rules, and whether the objects of the society are in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 11.