Q.Explain the procedure for the registration of a co-operative society under the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960.

Forming a society is a step-by-step legal process, from a promoters' meeting to the Registrar's certificate.

Registration gives a co-operative society its legal existence. The procedure under the Act and the Rules may be explained step by step:

1. Meeting of promoters and provisional committee — the persons who wish to form the society hold a preliminary meeting, decide to form the society, and appoint a chief promoter and a provisional (ad-hoc) committee to carry out the registration work.

2. Selection and reservation of a name — a suitable name is chosen for the society and its availability is confirmed with the Registrar, so that no two societies have the same name.

3. Minimum number of members — the required minimum must be there: under Section 6, at least ten persons qualified to be members for an ordinary society, or at least five societies for a federal society.

4. Application to the Registrar — an application in the prescribed form is submitted to the Registrar, signed by the required number of applicants, giving all the particulars called for.

5. Documents accompanying the application — the application is submitted with, chiefly: (i) four copies of the proposed bye-laws of the society; (ii) a list of applicants with their names, addresses and occupations; (iii) a statement of the proposed share capital and the number of shares each applicant has agreed to take; (iv) a bank certificate showing that the entrance fees and share money collected have been deposited in a bank; and (v) any other documents or information the Registrar requires.

6. Scrutiny by the Registrar — the Registrar examines the application, the bye-laws and the documents to satisfy himself that the requirements of the Act and the Rules are met and that the object of the society is genuinely co-operative and lawful.

7. Registration or refusal — if satisfied, the Registrar registers the society and its bye-laws and issues a certificate of registration. He must ordinarily dispose of the application within the time laid down by the Act. If he refuses registration, he must record and communicate his reasons, and an appeal lies against the refusal.

8. Effect of registration — under Section 9, the certificate is conclusive evidence that the society is duly registered from its date, and from that date the society becomes a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal, able to hold property and to sue and be sued in its own name; the registered bye-laws become its binding internal rules.

Forgetting the specific documents (four copies of bye-laws, bank certificate, list of applicants, share-capital statement) or the minimum-member requirement, and omitting the effect of registration (Section 9 conclusive evidence + body-corporate status).