Challenge to society-registration cancellation was dismissed for inordinate delay and laches.

The petitioner-cooperative society was registered on 10 September 1984 and was granted leases of ponds, including Chhanna Sagar Talab, for fisheries and Singhada cultivation, which constituted the livelihood of its members.

A lease of the 2-hectare Chhanna Sagar Pond was granted to the society for ten years, from 2000–2001 to 30 June 2010.

The Assistant Registrar recommended liquidation on the ground that the society had remained inactive and its members had not taken interest in its affairs.

A show-cause notice was issued on 7 July 2008, followed by an order placing the society under liquidation and appointing a Liquidator under Section 70(1) of the Madhya Pradesh Cooperative Societies Act, 1960.

On the Liquidator’s recommendation, the competent authority cancelled the society’s registration and dissolved its Managing Committee under Section 18(1) of the Act by order dated 31 March 2010.

The petitioner challenged the cancellation order in 2026, contending that it had been passed without notice and had never been communicated to the society.

The State opposed the petition on the ground of delay and stated that fishing rights had subsequently been granted to individuals for the period 2010–2011 to 30 June 2020, while no lease had been granted to any society after 2020.

Whether the petitioner’s challenge in 2026 to the order dated 31 March 2010 cancelling its registration was liable to be rejected on the ground of delay and laches?

Whether the alleged non-communication of the cancellation order entitled the petitioner to seek restoration of its registration and renewal or grant of the pond lease?

Whether the petitioner was entitled to a writ directing the respondents to restore its registration or grant it the lease of Chhanna Sagar Pond?

The Court applied Section 70(1) of the Madhya Pradesh Cooperative Societies Act, 1960, under which the competent authority could appoint a Liquidator after liquidation proceedings were initiated, and Section 18(1), under which the registration of a cooperative society could be cancelled and its Managing Committee dissolved pursuant to the statutory process.

The Court also applied the writ-law principle that a belated challenge to an administrative or statutory order may be refused on the ground of delay and laches, particularly where intervening events and third-party rights are involved.

No judicial precedent was cited or relied upon in the judgment.

The Court found that the society’s lease itself had expired on 30 June 2010 and that liquidation proceedings had been preceded by a show-cause notice dated 7 July 2008.

Although the petitioner asserted that the cancellation order had not been communicated, it remained undisputed that the order was passed on 31 March 2010 and was challenged only after approximately sixteen years.

The Court held that the petitioner ought to have approached the appropriate forum promptly if it was aggrieved by the cancellation.

The Court further noted that the pond had subsequently been allotted to individuals for the period up to 30 June 2020, making the petitioner’s claim for restoration of the earlier lease unsuitable for relief in the writ petition.

The fact that no allotment had been made after 2020 did not cure the petitioner’s prolonged and unexplained delay.

It also declined to direct restoration of the registration or grant of the Chhanna Sagar Pond lease, holding that the challenge was barred by gross delay and laches.

No order as to costs was made.

However, the petitioner was given liberty to apply afresh for registration or for grant of the pond lease in its individual capacity, in accordance with law.