Direction to State Revisional Authority to decide Revision Application challenging Committee supersession within three months.

The petitioners were elected members of the Managing Committee of a Cooperative Society. The District Registrar subsequently superseded this Committee and appointed an Administrator to manage the society's affairs.

Challenging this action, the petitioners filed Revision Application No. 4 of 2026 before the Deputy Secretary (Appeals). Although multiple applications were filed to expedite the matter, the Revisional Authority failed to prepone the hearing or decide the application.

Consequently, the petitioners approached the High Court under Articles 14, 19, and 226 of the Constitution of India seeking a mandamus for a time-bound disposal of the revision.

1. Whether the Court should issue a writ of mandamus directing the Respondent No. 1 to hear and decide the pending Revision Application within a specific, expedited timeframe.

The Court's jurisdiction was invoked under Articles 14, 19, and 226 of the Constitution of India, read with the Gujarat Co-operative Societies Act, 1961, and the Rules framed thereunder.

The primary legal principle applied is the judicial power to direct quasi-judicial authorities to perform their statutory duties (mandamus) within a reasonable period to ensure the efficacy of legal remedies, particularly when an elected body has been superseded by an administrator.

The Court observed that the petitioners' elected positions were currently displaced by an Administrator, making the swift adjudication of the Revision Application a matter of procedural necessity.

While the petitioners sought a 15-day deadline, the State (represented by the AGP) contended that an exact date could not be provided but proposed an outer limit of three months for resolution.

The Court found the State’s proposed timeline reasonable under the facts and circumstances. By directing a time-bound disposal, the Court ensured that the petitioners' statutory right to a revision under the Gujarat Co-operative Societies Act was not rendered illusory by administrative delay.

It issued a mandamus directing Respondent No. 1 (Deputy Secretary, Appeals) to decide Revision Application No. 4 of 2026 on its merits and in accordance with the law within an outer limit of three months from the date of receipt of the order. The Court emphasized that the authority must provide a proper opportunity of hearing to the petitioners before final disposal.