Q.When and how can the Registrar supersede the managing committee of a co-operative society?

Supersession is the Registrar's power to rescue a society from a committee that has failed it, without destroying the society.

Supersession of the managing committee is one of the Registrar's most important corrective powers, and it is dealt with in Section 78 of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960. It allows the Registrar to step in when the elected committee of a society, which is supposed to manage its affairs, has failed to do so properly, so that the society and its members are not left to suffer at the hands of a defaulting committee.

The question of when the power may be used is answered by the grounds set out in the section. The Registrar may supersede the committee where he is satisfied — usually on the basis of an inquiry under Section 83, an inspection, or an audit under Section 81 — that the committee is persistently making default in performing the duties imposed on it by the Act, Rules, or bye-laws; that it is negligent in the performance of those duties; that it has committed acts that are prejudicial to the interests of the society or its members; or that it has otherwise failed to function or is unable to carry on the management of the society. In other words, supersession is not for a trivial or single lapse but for persistent default, serious negligence, or conduct harmful to the society.

The question of how the power is used is answered by the procedure the section requires, because supersession is a serious step and the law does not allow it to be done arbitrarily. Before superseding the committee, the Registrar must follow the prescribed procedure, which includes giving the committee a reasonable opportunity to be heard — that is, to show cause why it should not be superseded — and, where the law so requires, consulting the specified authority. Only after this does the Registrar pass an order superseding (removing) the committee. …