Synopsis

The petitioner, a member of a Primary Agricultural Credit Co-operative Society (PACS), sought to stall the elections to the Parbhani District Central Co-operative Bank (a federal society) on the ground that his own PACS had not yet held its elections (its managing committee term had expired in 2025). He argued that only an elected member of a PACS could be sent as a delegate to vote in the federal society's elections. The High Court dismissed the petition, holding that: (i) Rule 10(2) of the Election Rules, 2014 only requires the delegate to be an "active member" of the PACS, not necessarily an elected member of its managing committee; (ii) the PACS could have sent a delegate through a general body resolution despite the absence of an elected committee; (iii) stalling federal elections indefinitely would be impractical and contrary to the statutory scheme; (iv) the petitioner approached the court belatedly, just before the last date for sending delegate names. The court refused to interfere with the ongoing election process.

Court: High Court of Judicature at Bombay, Bench at Aurangabad

Coram: Smt. Vibha Kankanwadi and Ajit B. Kadethankar, JJ. (Division Bench)

Date of Judgment: 23rd April 2026

Citation: Writ Petition No.4073 of 2026 (unreported)

Core Law: Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 – Sections 73, 144; Maharashtra Co-operative Societies (Election to Committees) Rules, 2014 – Rule 10

1. Heading of the judgment

High court of judicature at bombay bench at aurangabad

Writ petition no.4073 of 2026

Bhagwan marotrao vatane (petitioner) vs. The state of maharashtra & ors. (respondents)

Coram: smt. vibha kankanwadi and ajit b. kadethankar, jj. (division bench)

Date: 23rd april, 2026

2. Legal framework

Major laws and provisions involved:

• Maharashtra co-operative societies act, 1960 – section 73 (election of committee), section 144 (supersession of committee and appointment of administrator)

• Maharashtra co-operative societies (election to committees) rules, 2014 – rule 10 (particulars to be included in voters list; procedure for sending delegate/representative by member societies)

Subject matter of the judgment:

Whether the election to a federal co-operative bank (District Central Co-operative Bank) can be stalled merely because some of its affiliated Primary Agricultural Credit Societies have not yet conducted their own elections and are being managed by an expired committee or administrator, and whether only an elected member of a PACS can be sent as a delegate to vote in the federal bank's election.

... Upgrade to a Premium Plan to view the full judgment.