Writ Court Declines to Interfere With Election Ruling After Society Board’s Term Expired

An election to the 13th respondent cooperative society was scheduled for 1 February 2020.

The petitioner challenged the voters’ list before the Assistant Registrar of Cooperative Societies (ARCS), alleging that eligible voters had been omitted and ineligible persons included.

The ARCS allowed the election petition on 27 February 2023.

On appeal by some respondents, the Karnataka Appellate Tribunal (KAT) set aside that order on 3 December 2024.

The petitioner sought certiorari under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution to quash the KAT’s order.

By the time the writ petition was considered, the elected body’s five-year term had expired.

1. Whether the KAT’s order setting aside the ARCS’s decision warranted interference under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution

2. Whether the expired five-year term of the elected body affected the court’s consideration of the challenge to the KAT’s order

The petition invoked the High Court’s jurisdiction under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution.

The court identified no particular statutory provision, precedent, or detailed legal test as the basis for its decision.

It noted that the KAT had considered the record and that the elected body’s five-year term had expired.

The court noted the petitioner’s allegation that the voters’ list was inaccurate but found that the KAT had considered the material on record, allowed the appeal, and dismissed the election petition.

It also took account of the fact that the five-year term of the body elected in 2020 had expired.