Q.Explain the powers of the Registrar relating to the settlement of disputes, supersession of the managing committee, and winding up of a society.

When supervision alone cannot keep a society working properly, the Registrar has corrective and, in the last resort, terminal powers.

The third group of the Registrar's powers is corrective and, in the last resort, terminal. These powers come into play when audit and supervision alone are not enough to keep a society working properly — when there is a dispute that must be decided, a committee that has failed, or a society that can no longer function.

The first is the power connected with the settlement of disputes. Under Section 91 of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960, disputes touching the constitution, elections, management, or business of a co-operative society — for example, a dispute between the society and a member, or between the society and its officers or past officers — are to be referred for decision to the authority prescribed under the Act. Historically such disputes were decided by the Registrar or a nominee appointed by him; under the present scheme they are decided by the Co-operative Court established under the Act. The essential point is that the Act keeps co-operative disputes within a special, specified forum rather than sending them straight to the ordinary civil courts, and the Registrar's office remains closely connected with this dispute-resolution machinery.

The second is the power of supersession of the managing committee under Section 78. If the Registrar is satisfied — usually after an inquiry, inspection, or audit — that the managing committee of a society is persistently making default, is negligent in performing its duties, has committed acts prejudicial to the interests of the society or its members, or has otherwise failed to function, he may, after following the prescribed procedure (including giving the committee an opportunity to be heard), remove or supersede the committee and appoint an administrator or authorised officer to manage the society for a limited period, until a new committee is duly elected. This is a powerful remedy that lets the Registrar rescue a society from a committee that has failed it, without destroying the society itself. …