Introduction, Meaning and Objectives of the Act

Why a Special Law Was Needed

A co-operative society is formed by ordinary people of limited means who pool their small savings and run a business democratically for their own benefit. Such an organisation needs the protection of law: its members must be sure that their money is safe, that the society is managed honestly, that accounts are audited, and that disputes can be settled fairly and cheaply without going to ordinary civil courts. A special law also gives the society a legal existence of its own, separate from its members, so that it can own property, enter into contracts, and sue or be sued in its own name. The Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 provides all of this framework.

The Long Title and Purpose

The long title of the Act states that it is an Act 'to consolidate and amend the law relating to co-operative societies in the State of Maharashtra.' The word consolidate means to bring the scattered earlier laws together into one place, and amend means to improve and update them. The Act's stated purpose is the orderly development of the co-operative movement in Maharashtra in accordance with the relevant Directive Principles of State Policy in the Constitution.

Main Objectives of the Act

The important objectives of the Act may be listed as follows:

1. To provide for the registration of co-operative societies — to lay down who may form a society, the minimum number of members, and the procedure for getting it registered.
2. To give a co-operative society a legal (corporate) status — a registered society becomes a body corporate with perpetual succession, a common seal, and the power to hold property and to sue and be sued in its own name.
3. To regulate the working of societies — to lay down rules about membership, share capital, management by a committee, meetings, accounts, and the use of funds and profits.
4. To provide for audit, inquiry and inspection — to protect members by ensuring that every society's accounts are checked every year and that the Registrar can inquire into a society's affairs.
5. To provide machinery for the settlement of disputes — through the Registrar and the Co-operative Courts, so that disputes touching a society are settled speedily and cheaply, outside the ordinary civil courts.
6. To provide for the recovery of dues — so that money owed to a society can be recovered easily, and if necessary as arrears of land revenue.
7. To provide for the supervision and control of societies by the State — through the Commissioner for Co-operation and the Registrar of Co-operative Societies, and for the winding up of societies that cannot continue.
8. To promote the orderly and healthy growth of the co-operative movement in the State as an instrument of economic development and social justice.

Scope and Coverage …