Holding that democratic principles should guide the functioning of cooperative societies, the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the ouster of Vipul Chaudhary as chairman of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation through a no-confidence motion. Introducing uniformity in the functioning of thousands of cooperative societies, a judgment by a Bench of Justices Anil R. Dave and Kurian Joseph held that their laws should reflect the democratic principles for which they were created.
The judgment observed how the main objective of the idea behind a cooperative society was to “relieve the poor agriculturists from the clutches of moneylenders.”
“The cooperative society registered under the Central or the State Act is bound to function as a democratic institution and conduct its affairs based on democratic principles. Democratic functioning on democratic principles is to be reflected in the respective Acts or Rules or bylaws both on the principle and procedure. If not, it is for the court to read the democratic principles into the Act or Rules or bylaws,” the judgment authored by Justice Joseph held.
Mr. Chaudhary challenged his removal as GCMMF Chairman through a no-confidence motion by the Board of Directors. He filed an appeal in the SC against a Gujarat HC decision upholding his ouster.
