Primary Agricultural Credit Society Delegate Rights are Independent of New Executive Body Elections

The Petitioner is a member of the Wazar (Bk.) Miscellaneous Executive Services Co-operative Society (“PACS”), which is affiliated with the Parbhani District Central Co-operative Bank Ltd. (“Federal Society”)

The five-year tenure of the Petitioner’s PACS expired in 2025, and no new elections were held, leaving the society without an elected executive body

Meanwhile, the District Co-operative Election Officer initiated the election process for the Federal Society and called for delegates from affiliated societies by April 23, 2026

The Petitioner challenged this, seeking to stay the Federal Society elections until elections for his PACS were concluded, arguing that only an elected member of a PACS can serve as a delegate

1. Whether the election to a Federal Society can be stalled on the ground that the elections of its member Primary Agricultural Credit Co-operative Societies (PACS) are pending or due

2. Whether only an elected member of the executive committee of a PACS can be sent as a delegate to vote in the Federal Society elections

The Court primarily applied the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 and the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies (Election to Committees) Rules, 2014.

Specifically, Rule 10(2) mandates that a society must send the name of a representative authorized to vote at least 120 days prior to the expiry of the Federal Society's term, provided the representative is an “active member” of the member society

Rule 10(4) permits the change of a representative's name up to five days before the last date of nominations in the event of new elections at the member society level

The Court rejected the Petitioner's contention that only an elected member of a PACS committee could serve as a delegate. By analyzing Rule 10(2), the Court observed that the only statutory requirement for a delegate is to be an "active member" of the PACS, not necessarily an elected committee member

The Court reasoned that since the tenures of various societies expire at different times, requiring all affiliated PACS elections to be completed before a Federal Society election would make the process impracticable and would lead to indefinite delays

The Court further noted that the Petitioner’s society remained functional despite the expiry of its term, and Rule 10(4) explicitly provides a mechanism to update delegates if a new committee is elected during the federal election process

Finally, the Court found the Petitioner approached the court at the "last hour" without justifying why the PACS could not have authorized a delegate through a General Body meeting earlier

Consequently, the Court found no merit in the Petitioner’s plea to stay the election of the Parbhani District Central Co-operative Bank Ltd. The Writ Petition was dismissed, the rule was discharged, and no costs were awarded