Full Judgment Text
REPORTABLE
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
2025 INSC 1389
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CIVIL APPEAL NO. OF 2025
ARISING OUT OF SLP (C) No. OF 2025
DIARY NO. 7678 OF 2024
ADARSH SAHKARI GRIH NIRMAN
SWAWLAMBI SOCIETY LTD. ...APPELLANT(S)
VERSUS
THE STATE OF JHARKHAND & ORS. …RESPONDENT(S)
J U D G M E N T
1. Delay condoned. Leave granted.
2. Simplicity in public transactions is good governance. Constitutional
courts uphold this virtue to strengthen the rule of law and ensure access
to justice. In administrative law, simplicity means laws, regulations, and
procedures should be clear, straightforward, and easy to understand,
allowing for effortless compliance. Administrative procedures should avoid
complexity, redundant requirements, and unnecessary burdens, which
waste time, expense, and disturb peace of mind.
Signature Not Verified
2.1 While higher courts set aside executive decisions on the grounds of
Digitally signed by
Jayant Kumar Arora
Date: 2025.12.05
17:22:23 IST
Reason:
illegality if they are not founded on relevant considerations, or even when
1
the decisions are based on irrelevant considerations, it is important to
recognize the principle that executive actions that mandate certain
unnecessary, excessive requirements, must equally be set aside as
illegal.
2.2 On this principle, we have held that the Memo issued by the
Principal Secretary, Department of Registration, mandating an additional
recommendation of Assistant Registrar, Cooperative Society of the
existence of a Cooperative Society, as a pre-condition for registration of a
document under Section 9A of the Indian Stamp (Bihar Amendment) Act,
1988 as illegal. The reason is simple. Once a cooperative society is
registered and a certificate is issued, Section 5(7) of the Act declares it to
be a conclusive proof of its existence and continuation as a body
corporate. We have held that when the certificate serves the purpose, the
additional requirement is unnecessary. We have also noted that the Memo
requiring recommendation from Assistant Registrar, Cooperative Society
is based on irrelevant considerations and it does not offer any value
addition to the integrity of the transaction as alleged.
1
3. Section 9 of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 empowers the government
to reduce, remit or compound stamp duties on various instruments.
Section 9A was inserted by the Indian Stamp (Bihar Amendment) Act,
1
Hereinafter referred to as the “Stamp Act”.
2
1988, exempting payment of stamp duty on instruments relating to
transfer of premises by Cooperative Societies to their members. For ready
reference, Section 9A is reproduced below –
“Section 9A. Notwithstanding anything contained in any rule or orders under
clause (a) of section 9 reducing or remitting the duty on an instrument or
class of instruments in force immediately before the date of commencement
of this section, any instrument, so far as it relates to premises of a Co-
operative Society registered or deemed to be registered under any law
relating to the Co-operative Society for the time being in force, executed by
or on behalf of or in favour of such society or by an officer or member in
favour of another member and relating to business of such society shall be
chargeable with duty under this section read with articles indicated in
Schedule I-A:
…
Provided further that an instrument relating to transfer of premises by a Co-
operative Society to be registered in favour of its members shall not be
chargeable with duty:
…”
4. Problem arose in 2009, when the Principal Secretary to the
Department of Registration (respondent no. 2) issued the impugned
Memo number 494, dated 20.02.2009, calling upon the District Sub-
Registrars to ensure that exemption under Section 9A will be given only
when there is a recommendation of the Assistant Registrar, Cooperative
Society . The Memo addressed by the Principal Secretary to all District
Sub-Registrars of the State is reproduced below –
“
Jharkhand Government
Registration Department
File No 1/Ni Vi 1079/08
By,
Shri Sudhir Prasad,
Principal Secretary
Registration Department, Jharkhand, Ranchi
To,
All District Sub Registrars,
All Sub Registrars
Ranchi Dated …..2009
3
Subject: - Regarding giving guidelines for exemption of stamp duty and
registration fee in the deed submitted for registration by the Cooperative
Societies.
Sir,
In relation to the above-mentioned subject, it is said that under Section 9A
of the Indian Stamp Act, there is complete exemption in stamp and
registration fees in the deed presented for registration for transfer of land
and properties by registered Cooperative Societies. To ensure that unfair
advantage is not taken, it will be essential that you ensure that-
1. In case of registration of co-operative societies, exemption will be given
only when this matter is recommended by the Assistant Registrar, Co-
operative Society.
2. The registrar will receive such recommendation and submit it to the
District Under Registrar. In the absence of such recommendation,
exemption will not be given.
Please consider this as urgent.
Yours Faithfully
SD/-
Principal Secretary
Registrar Department, Jharkhand, Ranchi.
Memorandum No.: 494 Dated: 20.02.2009 ”
5. The appellant is a cooperative society, registered under Section 5 of
2
the Jharkhand Self-Supporting Cooperative Societies Act, 1996 , working
with the aim and object of providing housing and other utilities to its
members. As the letter issued by the Principal Secretary adversely
affected their freedom to transfer property with expedition and efficiency,
they approached the High Court by filing a writ petition under Article 226
of the Constitution of India, inter alia raising the following grounds -
(i) That by mandating approval by the Assistant Registrar before registration
of a transfer, a new tier has been created as a hurdle, which is ultra vires
the Stamp Act.
2
Hereinafter referred to as “the Cooperative Societies Act, 1996”.
4
(ii) That the Memo directly impinges on the independence and self-reliance
envisaged for co-operative societies under the 1996 Act.
(iii) That the Assistant Registrar has no authority whatsoever to grant or
reject approval to transfers by a co-operative society to its members
pursuant to an executive instruction that is contrary to and restrictive of
powers of the registering authority under a central legislation, that is, the
3
Registration Act, 1908 .
(iv) That respondent no. 2 has passed the impugned Memo without
providing co-operative societies an opportunity of hearing and has thereby
perpetuated gross violation of principles of natural justice .
6. The Single and the Division Benches of the High Court refused to
exercise judicial review for the following reason -
(i) The impugned letter is not in contravention to the Stamp Act, generally,
or section 9A, in particular. Rather, the requirement under the letter is
necessary to ensure that only validly registered cooperative societies get
the benefit.
(ii) Under section 34 of the Registration Act, the registering authority has
powers to make inquiries as to the executants and their representatives as
well as proper stamping and verification of the document presented for
registration. However, this power does not extend to examination of validity
of registration of a cooperative society and of satisfaction of conditions for
availing stamp duty exemption under section 9A of the Stamp Act.
(iii) The impugned executive instruction is intended towards simplifying the
process and for benefit of the co-operative societies.
7. While Mr. Rahul Arya, Advocate, reiterated appellant’s submissions
before the High Court, Mr. Kumar Anurag Singh, Advocate appearing for
the State, underscored the spirit of Section 9A and submitted that it is
necessary to ensure that fake cooperative societies do not avail the
benefit of the exemption. He also submitted that the Principal Secretary,
Department of Registration is the competent authority to issue
3
Hereinafter referred to as “the Registration Act”.
5
administrative directions to ensure payment of stamp duty and registration
of the document and therefore entitled to direct grant of exemption only
on the recommendation of the Assistant Registrar, Cooperative Society.
8. The legality of the Memo issued by the Principal Secretary,
Registration Department is subjected to judicial review in the context of
the power vested in him under the Registration Act. Though the appellants
have faintly raised jurisdictional questions about the legitimacy of the so-
called power vested in the Principal Secretary on the ground that it is
unrelated to the statutory provision, the High Court has not examined this
position at all. Even before us, the submission is confined to the exercise
of the power being “arbitrary and unreasonable”, rather than it being
without jurisdiction. We will therefore confine our enquiry to the exercise
of power.
9. Administrative law has well recognised the principal of an
administrative decision becoming unlawful if the decision fails to take into
account relevant considerations, or even when it takes into account
irrelevant considerations. Judicial review of administrative action on the
ground of illegality would then require consideration of provision of the
statute, rules or regulations, or even a policy empowering exercise of such
power or discretion. This process may seem to be a simple case of
interpretation of the laws, however as judicial review is in the realm of
public law, constitutional courts have the duty to ensure that the power or
6
discretion is exercised in furtherance of the purpose and object of the
statute, the rule or the regulation, or for that matter implementation of a
policy. In this process while accounting for relevant and irrelevant
considerations that may influence the decision, the court also takes into
account the broader principles of rule of law and good governance.
Irrelevant consideration includes insistence or performance of acts or
submission of documents, which neither have relevance nor are value
additions to the purpose or object of law or policy in place. Instead, they
are demonstrably superfluous and unnecessary, consuming limited time
and human resource. This also has a direct bearing on efficiency and good
governance. It appears to us that the benefit granted to a cooperative
society under Section 9A of the Bihar Amendment Act is sought to be
regulated by the Principal Secretary of the Department of Registration to
ensure that the benefit is not misused by what he terms as fake societies.
With this objective, the Principal Secretary, in exercise of his power and
discretion, directed all the registering authorities of the State not to register
a document till recommendation of the Assistant Registrar of Cooperative
Society is obtained. It is this endeavour of the Principal Secretary that is
subjected to judicial review. We will examine the legality of this decision.
10. The Indian Stamp Act is a fiscal enactment, primary object of which
is to raise and collect revenue for the State. The power of the State to
impose and collect stamp duty and prevent evasion also extends to
7
reducing, remitting or compounding duties, if the State is of the opinion
4
that such a measure is necessary.
11. In order to encourage cooperative movement, the Bihar legislature
introduced Section 9A by the Indian Stamp (Bihar Amendment) Act, 1988,
the effect of which is that an instrument relating to transfer of a premises
by a Cooperative Society to its members shall not be chargeable with
stamp duty. Section 9A has the effect of creating a right in favour of
cooperative societies and also of imposing a statutory duty on the
authorities; a right in the sense that the cooperative societies can transfer
premises to their members without stamp duty and a duty in the sense
that instruments of transfer by cooperative societies to their members
shall be registered by the authorities without any further requirement of
stamp duty.
12. The requirement of recommendation by the Assistant Registrar,
Cooperative Society as a pre-condition for registering an instrument
transferring premises of a cooperative society in favour of its members
without stamp duty to prevent fake cooperative societies from claiming
benefit of Section 9A is, in our opinion, an irrelevant consideration leading
to illegality in action. Such a pre-condition is clearly superfluous and in
fact, unnecessary. The following is the explanation.
4
See Section 9 of Indian Stamp Act.
8
13. A cooperative society in Jharkhand, like the appellant herein,
registered under Section 5, acquires the status of a body corporate under
5
Section 6 . Such a cooperative society will be entitled to display its name
at its office, issue notices, official publications, business letters, bills of
6
exchange, etc. in its own name. The effect of being a body corporate is
in fact evident from Section 5(7) of the Act, which declares that, “ where a
cooperative society is registered, the certificate of registration signed and
sealed by the Registrar shall be conclusive evidence ”. A cumulative
reading of Chapter II of the 1996 Act, under which any cooperative society
in Jharkhand is registered, is that the certificate of registration is
conclusive evidence of the existence of the cooperative society. The State
and its instrumentalities are bound by this certification and no further
question should arise about the existence or authenticity of the
cooperative society. The certificate is a recognition and a declaration of
the State that the cooperative society is continuing on statutorily
maintained roll.
5
Section 6 Cooperative Society to be a body corporate
(1) The Cooperative Society shall be a body corporate by the name under which it is registered having
perpetual succession and a common seal. The Cooperative Society shall be entitled to a acquire, hold
and dispose of property, to enter into contracts on its behalf, to institute and defend suits and other legal
proceedings and to take all such steps necessary to achieve its objectives.
(2) All transactions entered into in good faith prior to registration, furtherance of the purposes of the
Cooperative Society shall be deemed to be transactions of the Cooperative Society after registration.
(3) A Cooperative Society may be registered with limited liability and it shall have the word "limited" as
suffix to its name.
6
See Section 7 of the 1996 Act.
9
14. In lieu of the certificate granted by the Registrar, Cooperative
Society, which certificate would necessarily be enclosed with the
instrument presented for registration by the cooperative society for
registration, the further requirement of a recommendation by the Assistant
Registrar, Cooperative Society is superfluous and unnecessary. This
requirement, in our opinion, is disruptive of ease of transaction, without
any value addition to the integrity of the transaction. Such question would
not arise in the teeth of the statutory declaration under Section 5(7),
wherein a certification of the cooperative society by the Registrar,
Cooperative Society is a conclusive proof.
15. In view of the above, we have no hesitation in holding that the
impugned Memo issued by the Principal Secretary, Department of
Registration is set aside on the ground of illegality, as it seeks to rely on a
superfluous and redundant requirement.
16. For the reasons stated above, the Appeal is allowed against the
judgment and order of the High Court of Jharkhand in LPA No. 553 of
2022.
………………………………....J.
[PAMIDIGHANTAM SRI NARASIMHA]
………………………………....J.
[ATUL S. CHANDURKAR]
NEW DELHI;
DECEMBER 05, 2025
10
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
2025 INSC 1389
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CIVIL APPEAL NO. OF 2025
ARISING OUT OF SLP (C) No. OF 2025
DIARY NO. 7678 OF 2024
ADARSH SAHKARI GRIH NIRMAN
SWAWLAMBI SOCIETY LTD. ...APPELLANT(S)
VERSUS
THE STATE OF JHARKHAND & ORS. …RESPONDENT(S)
J U D G M E N T
1. Delay condoned. Leave granted.
2. Simplicity in public transactions is good governance. Constitutional
courts uphold this virtue to strengthen the rule of law and ensure access
to justice. In administrative law, simplicity means laws, regulations, and
procedures should be clear, straightforward, and easy to understand,
allowing for effortless compliance. Administrative procedures should avoid
complexity, redundant requirements, and unnecessary burdens, which
waste time, expense, and disturb peace of mind.
Signature Not Verified
2.1 While higher courts set aside executive decisions on the grounds of
Digitally signed by
Jayant Kumar Arora
Date: 2025.12.05
17:22:23 IST
Reason:
illegality if they are not founded on relevant considerations, or even when
1
the decisions are based on irrelevant considerations, it is important to
recognize the principle that executive actions that mandate certain
unnecessary, excessive requirements, must equally be set aside as
illegal.
2.2 On this principle, we have held that the Memo issued by the
Principal Secretary, Department of Registration, mandating an additional
recommendation of Assistant Registrar, Cooperative Society of the
existence of a Cooperative Society, as a pre-condition for registration of a
document under Section 9A of the Indian Stamp (Bihar Amendment) Act,
1988 as illegal. The reason is simple. Once a cooperative society is
registered and a certificate is issued, Section 5(7) of the Act declares it to
be a conclusive proof of its existence and continuation as a body
corporate. We have held that when the certificate serves the purpose, the
additional requirement is unnecessary. We have also noted that the Memo
requiring recommendation from Assistant Registrar, Cooperative Society
is based on irrelevant considerations and it does not offer any value
addition to the integrity of the transaction as alleged.
1
3. Section 9 of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 empowers the government
to reduce, remit or compound stamp duties on various instruments.
Section 9A was inserted by the Indian Stamp (Bihar Amendment) Act,
1
Hereinafter referred to as the “Stamp Act”.
2
1988, exempting payment of stamp duty on instruments relating to
transfer of premises by Cooperative Societies to their members. For ready
reference, Section 9A is reproduced below –
“Section 9A. Notwithstanding anything contained in any rule or orders under
clause (a) of section 9 reducing or remitting the duty on an instrument or
class of instruments in force immediately before the date of commencement
of this section, any instrument, so far as it relates to premises of a Co-
operative Society registered or deemed to be registered under any law
relating to the Co-operative Society for the time being in force, executed by
or on behalf of or in favour of such society or by an officer or member in
favour of another member and relating to business of such society shall be
chargeable with duty under this section read with articles indicated in
Schedule I-A:
…
Provided further that an instrument relating to transfer of premises by a Co-
operative Society to be registered in favour of its members shall not be
chargeable with duty:
…”
4. Problem arose in 2009, when the Principal Secretary to the
Department of Registration (respondent no. 2) issued the impugned
Memo number 494, dated 20.02.2009, calling upon the District Sub-
Registrars to ensure that exemption under Section 9A will be given only
when there is a recommendation of the Assistant Registrar, Cooperative
Society . The Memo addressed by the Principal Secretary to all District
Sub-Registrars of the State is reproduced below –
“
Jharkhand Government
Registration Department
File No 1/Ni Vi 1079/08
By,
Shri Sudhir Prasad,
Principal Secretary
Registration Department, Jharkhand, Ranchi
To,
All District Sub Registrars,
All Sub Registrars
Ranchi Dated …..2009
3
Subject: - Regarding giving guidelines for exemption of stamp duty and
registration fee in the deed submitted for registration by the Cooperative
Societies.
Sir,
In relation to the above-mentioned subject, it is said that under Section 9A
of the Indian Stamp Act, there is complete exemption in stamp and
registration fees in the deed presented for registration for transfer of land
and properties by registered Cooperative Societies. To ensure that unfair
advantage is not taken, it will be essential that you ensure that-
1. In case of registration of co-operative societies, exemption will be given
only when this matter is recommended by the Assistant Registrar, Co-
operative Society.
2. The registrar will receive such recommendation and submit it to the
District Under Registrar. In the absence of such recommendation,
exemption will not be given.
Please consider this as urgent.
Yours Faithfully
SD/-
Principal Secretary
Registrar Department, Jharkhand, Ranchi.
Memorandum No.: 494 Dated: 20.02.2009 ”
5. The appellant is a cooperative society, registered under Section 5 of
2
the Jharkhand Self-Supporting Cooperative Societies Act, 1996 , working
with the aim and object of providing housing and other utilities to its
members. As the letter issued by the Principal Secretary adversely
affected their freedom to transfer property with expedition and efficiency,
they approached the High Court by filing a writ petition under Article 226
of the Constitution of India, inter alia raising the following grounds -
(i) That by mandating approval by the Assistant Registrar before registration
of a transfer, a new tier has been created as a hurdle, which is ultra vires
the Stamp Act.
2
Hereinafter referred to as “the Cooperative Societies Act, 1996”.
4
(ii) That the Memo directly impinges on the independence and self-reliance
envisaged for co-operative societies under the 1996 Act.
(iii) That the Assistant Registrar has no authority whatsoever to grant or
reject approval to transfers by a co-operative society to its members
pursuant to an executive instruction that is contrary to and restrictive of
powers of the registering authority under a central legislation, that is, the
3
Registration Act, 1908 .
(iv) That respondent no. 2 has passed the impugned Memo without
providing co-operative societies an opportunity of hearing and has thereby
perpetuated gross violation of principles of natural justice .
6. The Single and the Division Benches of the High Court refused to
exercise judicial review for the following reason -
(i) The impugned letter is not in contravention to the Stamp Act, generally,
or section 9A, in particular. Rather, the requirement under the letter is
necessary to ensure that only validly registered cooperative societies get
the benefit.
(ii) Under section 34 of the Registration Act, the registering authority has
powers to make inquiries as to the executants and their representatives as
well as proper stamping and verification of the document presented for
registration. However, this power does not extend to examination of validity
of registration of a cooperative society and of satisfaction of conditions for
availing stamp duty exemption under section 9A of the Stamp Act.
(iii) The impugned executive instruction is intended towards simplifying the
process and for benefit of the co-operative societies.
7. While Mr. Rahul Arya, Advocate, reiterated appellant’s submissions
before the High Court, Mr. Kumar Anurag Singh, Advocate appearing for
the State, underscored the spirit of Section 9A and submitted that it is
necessary to ensure that fake cooperative societies do not avail the
benefit of the exemption. He also submitted that the Principal Secretary,
Department of Registration is the competent authority to issue
3
Hereinafter referred to as “the Registration Act”.
5
administrative directions to ensure payment of stamp duty and registration
of the document and therefore entitled to direct grant of exemption only
on the recommendation of the Assistant Registrar, Cooperative Society.
8. The legality of the Memo issued by the Principal Secretary,
Registration Department is subjected to judicial review in the context of
the power vested in him under the Registration Act. Though the appellants
have faintly raised jurisdictional questions about the legitimacy of the so-
called power vested in the Principal Secretary on the ground that it is
unrelated to the statutory provision, the High Court has not examined this
position at all. Even before us, the submission is confined to the exercise
of the power being “arbitrary and unreasonable”, rather than it being
without jurisdiction. We will therefore confine our enquiry to the exercise
of power.
9. Administrative law has well recognised the principal of an
administrative decision becoming unlawful if the decision fails to take into
account relevant considerations, or even when it takes into account
irrelevant considerations. Judicial review of administrative action on the
ground of illegality would then require consideration of provision of the
statute, rules or regulations, or even a policy empowering exercise of such
power or discretion. This process may seem to be a simple case of
interpretation of the laws, however as judicial review is in the realm of
public law, constitutional courts have the duty to ensure that the power or
6
discretion is exercised in furtherance of the purpose and object of the
statute, the rule or the regulation, or for that matter implementation of a
policy. In this process while accounting for relevant and irrelevant
considerations that may influence the decision, the court also takes into
account the broader principles of rule of law and good governance.
Irrelevant consideration includes insistence or performance of acts or
submission of documents, which neither have relevance nor are value
additions to the purpose or object of law or policy in place. Instead, they
are demonstrably superfluous and unnecessary, consuming limited time
and human resource. This also has a direct bearing on efficiency and good
governance. It appears to us that the benefit granted to a cooperative
society under Section 9A of the Bihar Amendment Act is sought to be
regulated by the Principal Secretary of the Department of Registration to
ensure that the benefit is not misused by what he terms as fake societies.
With this objective, the Principal Secretary, in exercise of his power and
discretion, directed all the registering authorities of the State not to register
a document till recommendation of the Assistant Registrar of Cooperative
Society is obtained. It is this endeavour of the Principal Secretary that is
subjected to judicial review. We will examine the legality of this decision.
10. The Indian Stamp Act is a fiscal enactment, primary object of which
is to raise and collect revenue for the State. The power of the State to
impose and collect stamp duty and prevent evasion also extends to
7
reducing, remitting or compounding duties, if the State is of the opinion
4
that such a measure is necessary.
11. In order to encourage cooperative movement, the Bihar legislature
introduced Section 9A by the Indian Stamp (Bihar Amendment) Act, 1988,
the effect of which is that an instrument relating to transfer of a premises
by a Cooperative Society to its members shall not be chargeable with
stamp duty. Section 9A has the effect of creating a right in favour of
cooperative societies and also of imposing a statutory duty on the
authorities; a right in the sense that the cooperative societies can transfer
premises to their members without stamp duty and a duty in the sense
that instruments of transfer by cooperative societies to their members
shall be registered by the authorities without any further requirement of
stamp duty.
12. The requirement of recommendation by the Assistant Registrar,
Cooperative Society as a pre-condition for registering an instrument
transferring premises of a cooperative society in favour of its members
without stamp duty to prevent fake cooperative societies from claiming
benefit of Section 9A is, in our opinion, an irrelevant consideration leading
to illegality in action. Such a pre-condition is clearly superfluous and in
fact, unnecessary. The following is the explanation.
4
See Section 9 of Indian Stamp Act.
8
13. A cooperative society in Jharkhand, like the appellant herein,
registered under Section 5, acquires the status of a body corporate under
5
Section 6 . Such a cooperative society will be entitled to display its name
at its office, issue notices, official publications, business letters, bills of
6
exchange, etc. in its own name. The effect of being a body corporate is
in fact evident from Section 5(7) of the Act, which declares that, “ where a
cooperative society is registered, the certificate of registration signed and
sealed by the Registrar shall be conclusive evidence ”. A cumulative
reading of Chapter II of the 1996 Act, under which any cooperative society
in Jharkhand is registered, is that the certificate of registration is
conclusive evidence of the existence of the cooperative society. The State
and its instrumentalities are bound by this certification and no further
question should arise about the existence or authenticity of the
cooperative society. The certificate is a recognition and a declaration of
the State that the cooperative society is continuing on statutorily
maintained roll.
5
Section 6 Cooperative Society to be a body corporate
(1) The Cooperative Society shall be a body corporate by the name under which it is registered having
perpetual succession and a common seal. The Cooperative Society shall be entitled to a acquire, hold
and dispose of property, to enter into contracts on its behalf, to institute and defend suits and other legal
proceedings and to take all such steps necessary to achieve its objectives.
(2) All transactions entered into in good faith prior to registration, furtherance of the purposes of the
Cooperative Society shall be deemed to be transactions of the Cooperative Society after registration.
(3) A Cooperative Society may be registered with limited liability and it shall have the word "limited" as
suffix to its name.
6
See Section 7 of the 1996 Act.
9
14. In lieu of the certificate granted by the Registrar, Cooperative
Society, which certificate would necessarily be enclosed with the
instrument presented for registration by the cooperative society for
registration, the further requirement of a recommendation by the Assistant
Registrar, Cooperative Society is superfluous and unnecessary. This
requirement, in our opinion, is disruptive of ease of transaction, without
any value addition to the integrity of the transaction. Such question would
not arise in the teeth of the statutory declaration under Section 5(7),
wherein a certification of the cooperative society by the Registrar,
Cooperative Society is a conclusive proof.
15. In view of the above, we have no hesitation in holding that the
impugned Memo issued by the Principal Secretary, Department of
Registration is set aside on the ground of illegality, as it seeks to rely on a
superfluous and redundant requirement.
16. For the reasons stated above, the Appeal is allowed against the
judgment and order of the High Court of Jharkhand in LPA No. 553 of
2022.
………………………………....J.
[PAMIDIGHANTAM SRI NARASIMHA]
………………………………....J.
[ATUL S. CHANDURKAR]
NEW DELHI;
DECEMBER 05, 2025
10