The Bombay High Court has overturned an order that disqualified the entire managing committee of a housing society in Powai for failing to convene a special general body meeting during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The court ruled that the pandemic restrictions constituted a "reasonable cause" for the inability to hold the meeting.
Court Cites Pandemic as 'Reasonable Cause'
Justice Amit Borkar, in his order passed on Thursday, quashed and set aside the disqualification orders issued by the assistant registrar and later upheld by the joint registrar of cooperative societies. The judge emphasized that the period in question, June 2020, fell squarely within the phase when strict Covid-19 restrictions were in force across Maharashtra.
"Executive orders regulating movement and public gatherings were in effect," Justice Borkar noted. He added that the restrictions began to ease only after March 2021, making it unfeasible to convene a meeting in the ordinary manner prescribed under the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act and Rules.
Chronology of the Legal Dispute
The case originated from a requisition for a Special General Body Meeting (SGBM) made by 13 members of the Phulora Cooperative Housing Society in June 2020. The meeting was sought to consider issues regarding the filing of certain cases. Due to the pandemic lockdowns and health advisories, the managing committee could not convene the meeting.
Subsequently, in June 2023, the assistant registrar for cooperative societies (S ward) passed an order disqualifying the entire managing committee based on the failure of its chairman and secretary to convene the requisitioned SGBM. This order was then upheld by the joint registrar (Mumbai division) in July 2024, prompting the committee members to approach the High Court.
Dispute Over Validity of Requisition Signatures
During the proceedings, the petitioners' advocate, Deepak Pandey, presented a significant contention. He argued that eight of the 13 members who had allegedly signed the requisition had denied seeking an SGBM. These members asserted that their signatures were obtained for a different purpose and were misused by a complainant-member to requisition the meeting.
Pandey stated that given this fundamental dispute regarding the very foundation of the requisition, the managing committee had previously requested the assistant registrar to recall the show-cause notice issued against them.
High Court's Legal Reasoning and Verdict
Justice Borkar referred to Section 76(2) of the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, which grants the registrar the power to disqualify committee members for failing to convene an SGBM. The judge underscored that this is a significant power, and therefore, the statute obligates the registrar to examine whether the committee was prevented by a "reasonable cause" from convening the meeting.
The court held that the committee's failure to convene the meeting during the Covid period "stands supported by reasonable cause." Justice Borkar stated, "The registrar ought to have considered this overriding circumstance before exercising the power of disqualification. The supersession of an elected committee without accounting for such a compelling factual situation cannot be sustained."
Concluding that the orders passed by the lower authorities suffered from a "clear error of approach," Justice Borkar declared that "the impugned orders, therefore, cannot stand in the eye of the law." The High Court consequently quashed the orders of both the assistant registrar and the joint registrar, reinstating the elected managing committee.
