Failure to utilize minimum cooperative services for two of five years mandates voter ineligibility.

The appellants are primary milk producer co-operative societies and members of the Tumkuru District Milk Producers Co-operative Societies Union Limited (District Milk Union), a federal society

The District Milk Union held elections for its Managing Committee for the term 2024–2029

The appellants were declared ineligible to vote or contest because they failed to supply the minimum requisite quantity of milk (150kg for 270 days per year) as prescribed by the Union's bye-laws

The appellants challenged this in writ petitions, arguing that the shortfall was due to COVID-19, Lumpy Skin Disease, and drought

While the High Court initially permitted them to cast votes via interim orders, the learned Single Judge eventually dismissed the petitions, holding that the Election Officer only needs to verify the fact of supply, not the reasons for failure

The appellants preferred these writ appeals, specifically challenging the interpretation of the statutory disqualification criteria

Whether, under Section 20(2)(a-v) of the Karnataka Co-operative Societies (KOS) Act, a member is disqualified only if the failure to utilize minimum services occurs in consecutive years or if it applies to any two years out of the last five

Whether a member remains eligible if they have supplied the minimum quantity for three out of the five preceding cooperative years despite failing in the other two

The court applied Section 20 of the Karnataka Co-operative Societies Act, 1959.

Specifically, prior to October 2021, Section 20(2)(a-v) disqualified members who failed to utilize minimum services for three consecutive years

Subsequent to the 2021 Amendment (effective 15.10.2021), the rule was substituted to disqualify any member or representative who fails to utilize minimum services "for any two co-operative years out of the last five Co-operative years"

The court also noted that any dispute regarding the constitution of a Managing Committee generally falls under the statutory remedy provided in Section 70(2)(c) of the KOS Act

The court found the language of the post-2021 amendment to Section 20(2)(a-v) to be "unambiguous"

It rejected the appellants' contention that the two years of default must be consecutive, noting that the statute now explicitly uses the phrase "any two co-operative years out of the last five"

The court reasoned that if a society fails to meet the service threshold in two or more years within a five-year block, the disqualification is triggered, regardless of whether those years were back-to-back

Since the milk supply data (which the appellants did not dispute during the appeal) confirmed that they failed the 150kg/270-day threshold in at least two of the five preceding years, the statutory criteria for ineligibility were met

The court declined to consider extenuating circumstances like drought or disease, as the Senior Counsel confined the challenge strictly to the interpretation of the statutory provision

The appeals were dismissed, and the court upheld the Single Judge's direction for the Returning Officer to exclude the votes cast by the ineligible appellants and issue a fresh declaration of the election results