Q.Describe the powers and duties of the Registrar of Co-operative Societies under the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960.

The Registrar's many statutory powers are easiest to study when grouped by the stage of a society's life at which they are used.

The Registrar of Co-operative Societies is given a wide range of powers and duties by the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960, and the clearest way to study them is to group them according to the stage of a society's life at which they are exercised: the birth and reshaping of a society, the keeping of a working society healthy, and the correction or ending of a society.

The first group concerns registration and membership. The most basic power is the power of registration: under Sections 4, 6, 8, and 9, the Registrar receives the application to form a society, scrutinises its object, its minimum membership, and its bye-laws, and either registers the society and its bye-laws and issues the certificate of registration or refuses by a reasoned order. A society becomes a body corporate only on his registration. His powers continue over the society's life — he registers amendments to the bye-laws (an amendment normally takes effect only when he registers it, and he may refuse one contrary to the Act or Rules), fixes or alters the area of operation and classification of societies, and, under Sections 17 and 18, deals with amalgamation, division, transfer of assets and liabilities, and reorganisation. Membership questions of admission, cessation, and eligibility operate under the Act and bye-laws with his oversight.

The second group concerns supervision, and from the members' point of view it is the most valuable. Under Section 81, the Registrar audits, or causes to be audited, the accounts of every society at least once in each co-operative year, examining the books, cash, and stock and reporting irregularities, losses, and mismanagement. Under Section 83 he may hold an inquiry into the constitution, working, and financial condition of a society, on his own motion or on a valid request; under Section 84 he may inspect a society's books on a creditor's application. Where audit, inquiry, or inspection reveals misapplication of funds or loss caused by the negligence or misconduct of a promoter or officer, he may, under Section 88, hold a surcharge proceeding and order the person responsible to make good the loss. …