Bombay High Court
Ashok Dadaji Rechankar And Another vs Agricultural Produce Market ... on 24 February, 2021
Equivalent citations: AIRONLINE 2021 BOM 286
Author: Amit B. Borkar
Bench: Z.A. Haq, Manish Pitale, Amit B. Borkar
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
NAGPUR BENCH : NAGPUR
WRIT PETITION NO.4030 OF 2018.
1. Ashok Dadaji Rechankar,
Aged - 47 yrs. Major,
Occupation - Agriculture,
R/o Sakmur, Gondpipri,
Chandrapur.
2. Adv. Manoj Bapurji Nagapure,
Aged - 46 yrs. Major,
Occupation - Agriculturist,
R/o Nandwardhan, Post
Dhamangaon, Gondpipri,
Chandrapur. PETITIONERS
VERSUS
1. Agriculture Produce Market
Committee, through its Secretary,
Gondpipri, Chandrapur.
2. Divisional Joint Registrar of
Cooperative Societies, Nagpur.
3. District Deputy Registrar,
Co-operative Societies,
Chandrapur, Dist : Chandrapur.
4. Shri Sudhakar Laxmanrao Kundojwar,
Aged about 75 years,
Occ : Agriculturist,
R/o Vitthalvadi, Tah : Gondpipri,
Dist. Chandrapur. RESPONDENTS
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Shri R. L. Khapre, Senior Advocate a/w. Shri S.S. Ghate, Advocate
and Shri R.J.Kankale, Advocate for petitioners.
Shri Pankaj Jibhkate, Advocate for respondent No.1.
Mrs. K. S. Joshi, I/c. Government Pleader for respondent Nos.2 and
3.
Shri P. D. Meghe, Advocate for respondent No.4.
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Advocates Assisted the Court :
Shri U.S.Dastane, Advocate
Shri A.M. Ghare, Advocate
Shri Firdos Mirza, Advocate
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CORAM : Z. A. HAQ, MANISH PITALE AND
AMIT B. BORKAR, JJ.
RESERVED ON : 17.12.2020.
PRONOUNCED ON : 24/02/2021
JUDGMENT (PER : AMIT B. BORKAR, J.) :
1. This reference has been made to the Full Bench, pursuant to the order dated 8th November 2019 of the learned Single of this Court for considering the following question of law:
"Whether the members of the APMC who are elected by the members of the Managing Committee of the Agricultural Credit Societies and Multi-purpose Cooperative Societies or the members of the Village Panchayat functioning in the market area cease to be members of the APMC on ceasing to be the members of the Managing Committee of the societies or the members of the Village Panchayat, in view of the proviso to Section 15 of the Act?".
2. The learned Single Judge felt the need to make this reference, in view of conflicting decisions of the Division Benches of this Court, one holding that the members of the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (for short "APMC") who are elected by the Managing Committees of the Societies would cease to be ::: Uploaded on - 08/03/2021 ::: Downloaded on - 29/08/2021 18:08:58 ::: 3 wp4030.18 members of the APMC, in the event, they ceased to be members of the Managing Committees of their parent Society. ( Purshottam s/o Pandharinath Tonpe Vs. Agriculture Produce Market Committee, Wardha and Ors., reported in 2013 (6) Mh. L.J. 688 and Hukumchand s/o Govindrao Amdhare and Ors. Vs. The Collector, Nagpur and Ors., (Writ Petition No.3130/2015) and then another decision, in which it is held that even though tenure of the Managing Committee members of the Cooperative Society may have expired, the representative capacity of Managing Committee Member is not wiped out and he continues to represent the said Society even thereafter. (Writ Petition No.4092 of 2013 : Gajanan Ramkisan Pacharne Vs. The Hon'ble State Minister and Ors. decided on 19.1.2005).
3. We do not propose to refer to the factual matrix of the case in detail. However, it would be appropriate to state the background in which, Writ Petition No.4030 of 2018 came to be filed in this Court. In this Writ Petition, the petitioners were elected as Director and Vice-Chairman respectively of the respondent no.1 - Agricultural Produce Market Committee in the election held on 18 th January 2017, by virtue of they being Managing Committee Members of a Cooperative Society. The term of the petitioner no.1 came to an end on 29th April 2017. The term of petitioner no.2 ::: Uploaded on - 08/03/2021 ::: Downloaded on - 29/08/2021 18:08:58 ::: 4 wp4030.18 came to an end around August 2017. The respondent no.3 passed an order on 15th September 2017 removing the petitioners from their posts as Director and Vice Chairman respectively on the premise that the petitioners ceased to be Managing Committee members of their parent Cooperative Societies. The appeal against the said order being dismissed by the respondent no.1, the petitioners approached this Court by invoking Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India. The learned Single Judge noticing conflicting views of the Division Benches of this Court directed placing the issue before the Hon'ble the Chief Justice for the constitution of larger Bench. That is how the present petition has been placed before us for answering the reference.
4. We have heard all the learned Advocates appearing for the respective parties on the aforesaid question referred to us.
5. Shri R. L. Khapre, learned Senior Advocate, submitted that the member of the marketing committee continues to function even after he ceases to be a member of the Managing Committee of the Cooperative Society. He submitted that proviso to Section 15 (1) of the Maharashtra Agricultural Produce Marketing (Development and Regulation) Act, 1963 (for short "the APMC Act") does not apply to such member. He further submitted that proviso to Section 15 (1) of the APMC Act will apply to Section 13 of the APMC Act ::: Uploaded on - 08/03/2021 ::: Downloaded on - 29/08/2021 18:08:58 ::: 5 wp4030.18 save and except sub-clause (a) of sub-section (1) of Section 13. He submitted that Rules 35 and 36 of the Maharashtra Agricultural Produce Marketing (Development and Regulation) Rules, 1967, cannot take away right created under Section 13 (1) of the APMC Act. He submitted that the petitioners are not elected as representatives of a Cooperative Society but, are elected by 'virtue of their office' as Managing Committee members of a Cooperative Society. He submitted that there is a clear distinction between a person who ceases to be qualified after contesting an election and a person who is disqualified. He submitted that disqualification must be specifically provided under a statute, which has not been provided under the APMC Act. He submitted that the petitioners are elected as members of the APMC in their rights, not as representative of the Cooperative Societies. In support of his submission that persons elected in their capacity as Managing Committee Members of the Cooperative Society would not fall within the category of "representative" as per the proviso to Section 15 (1) of the said Act, he placed reliance on the judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of N.S.Varadahachari Vs. G.V. Pai and another reported in AIR 1973 SC 38, Kuldip Nayar Vs. Union of India and Ors. reported in AIR 2006 SC 3127.
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6. Shri U.S.Dastane, learned Advocate, who assisted the Court, invited our attention to Sections 16, 60 (2) of the APMC Act ,Rule 41 (1) (k) of the Maharashtra Agricultural Produce Marketing (Development and Regulation) Rules, 1967 (for short "the Rules of 1967") and submitted that the member of APMC, who is elected by the Managing Committee of the Cooperative Society, would cease to be a member of APMC in the event, he ceases to be a member of the Managing Committee of his parent society as he is disqualified under the Act.
7. Smt. K.S. Joshi, learned In-charge Government Pleader also submitted that once the member of a Managing Committee of a cooperative society ceases to be such member, he no longer would be entitled to continue as a Member of APMC and is deemed to have vacated his office.
8. Shri A.M. Ghare, learned Advocate, who also assisted the Court, submitted that unless a person is a member of Managing Committee of the Cooperative Society, he is not entitled to become a member of Marketing Committee. He submitted that for being elected as a member of the Agricultural Produce Market Committee, a person needs to be agriculturist and a member of Managing Committee of the Agricultural credit Society or multipurpose cooperative society for being qualified under Clause (a) of Sub- ::: Uploaded on - 08/03/2021 ::: Downloaded on - 29/08/2021 18:08:58 :::
7 wp4030.18 Section (1) of Section 13 of the APMC Act. Learned advocate, by inviting our attention to the Full Bench decision of this Court in the case of Rajkumar s/o Laxmanprasad Kesarwani Vs. Returning Officer and Tahsildar reported in 2006 (1) Mh.L.J. 445, submitted that the word "constituency" has been added after the Full Bench decision. He submitted that it is the status of office bearers of the Cooperative Society which qualifies a person for being elected as a member of the Marketing Committee. He submitted that there is a clear distinction between a person 'holding office' as a member of the Marketing Committee and by virtue of his capacity as 'representative'. Learned advocate, by inviting our attention to Rules 45 and 41 (3) of the Rules of 1967, submitted that the scheme of the Act and Rules does not permit a person to continue as a Member of Marketing Committee after he ceases to be a member of the Managing Committee of the Cooperative Society.
9. Shri Firdos Mirza, learned Advocate, who also assisted the Court, by inviting our attention to Section 13 of the APMC Act, Rules 35 and 36 of the Rules of 1967 and proviso to Section 15 of the APMC Act submitted that a person, who is elected by virtue of holding the office of Member of the Managing Committee ceases to be such member of Marketing Committee once he ceases to be Member of Managing Committee. By relying on word ::: Uploaded on - 08/03/2021 ::: Downloaded on - 29/08/2021 18:08:58 ::: 8 wp4030.18 "representative" in sub-section (1A) of Section 13 of the APMC Act submitted that the word "representative" occurring in the proviso to Section 15 (1) of APMC Act refers to the word "representative" in sub-section (1A) of Section 13 the APMC Act. He submitted that the member of the Managing Committee of a Cooperative Society would fall within the category "holding office" in the proviso to Section 15 (1) of the APMC Act. He submitted that once a person ceases to be a member of the Managing Committee, constituted under Section 13 of the APMC Act, the constitution of Marketing Committee would become illegal and would render proviso to section 15(1) otiose.
10. To address the question referred and for better appreciation of the contentions urged by the learned Advocates for the parties, it would be advantageous to reproduce relevant provisions of the Act and Rules, which call for our interpretation.
11. Section 13(1)(a)(i) and(ii) of the APMC Act, which provides for constitution of Market Committees, reads as under:
"13. Constitution of Market Committees.
(1) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (2), every Market Committee consist of the following; 1[2[-----] members], namely :--
3[a) 21[fifteen agriculturist residing in the market area (being persons whose names appear in the voter's list for the concerned constituency and ::: Uploaded on - 08/03/2021 ::: Downloaded on - 29/08/2021 18:08:58 ::: 9 wp4030.18 who are not less than twenty-one years of age on the date specified, from time to time, by the Collector or the District Deputy Registrar, as the case may be, in this behalf), as specified below :--]
(i) eleven (of which, two shall be women, one shall be a person belonging to Other Backward classes and one shall be a person belonging to De-notified Tribes (Vimukta Jatis) or Nomadic Tribes) shall be elected by the members of the Managing Committees of the Agricultural Credit Societies and multi purpose Co-operative Societies (within the meaning of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 and the rules made thereunder), functioning in the market area :
Provided that, where the Market Committee is situated in Tribal area, one person belonging to the Scheduled Tribes shall be elected in place of the election of the person belonging to the De-notified Tribes (Vimukta Jatis) or Nomadic Tribes as aforesaid ; and
(ii) four (of which, one shall be a person belonging to Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes and one shall be a person belonging to Economically Weaker Section), shall be elected by members of the village panchayats functioning therein ;] 4[(b) two shall be elected by traders and commission agents, holding licences for not less than two years to operate as such in the market area;] 5[(b-l)one member shall be elected by hamals and weighmen operating as such in the market area;]
(c)one shall be the Chairman of the co-operative society doing business of processing or marketing of agricultural produce in the market area 6[having its registered office situated in the same market area]; or in his absence a representative of the co-operative society elected by its managing committee :
Provided that, if there be more than one such Co-operative societies in the market area, then the Chairman of any one of such co-operative societies or in his absence a representative, elected by the managing committees of such society ;::: Uploaded on - 08/03/2021 ::: Downloaded on - 29/08/2021 18:08:58 :::
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(d) one shall be the Chairman of the Panchayat Samiti within the jurisdiction of which the market area or major portion thereof is situated of the representative elected by such Panchayat Samiti;
(e) one shall be the President or Sarpanch of the local authority (other than a Panchayat Samiti)within the jurisdiction of which the principal market is situated or the representative elected by such local authority ; 7[(f)the Deputy Registrar of Co-operative Societies of the district or his representative, who shall have no right to vote;] 8(g) the Secretary of the Market Committee, who shall have no right to vote;] 9[l-a)A person who is a member of the Market Committee under clauses
(c), (d)and (e) shall have a right to take part in the discussions of the Committee, but shall have no right to vote at a meeting thereof.] 10[[(lA)(a) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) of this section or in section 4 or other provisions of this Act, the area comprising Greater Bombay and Turbhe Village in Thane Taluka of Thane District 11[and such other area or areas as may be specified by the State Government by notification in the Official Gazette from time to time] (hereinafter referred to as '"the Bombay Market area") shall be deemed to be a market area for the purposes of this Act, and the Market Committee for that area to be called by the name of the Bombay Agricultural Produce Market Committee shall, subject to the provisions of sub-section (2), consist of the following 12[---- members], namely:-
(i) twelve representatives of agriculturists elected by the agriculturist members of the other Agricultural Produce Market Committee in the State, 13[two such members] to be elected from each Revenue Division;
14[(ii)five representatives, elected by the traders and commission agents, holding licences to operate as such in the Bombay market area, as specified below,--
(A)one representative dealing in onion, potato and garlic, elected by and from amongst themselves ;
(B)one representative dealing in fruits, elected by and from amongst themselves ;
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11 wp4030.18 (C)one representative dealing in vegetables, elected by and from amongst themselves ;
(D) one representative dealing in food grains, pulses, edible and non- edible oils, elected by and from amongst themselves ;
(iii) one nominated representative of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation ;
(iv)one nominated representative of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation ;
(v)one nominated representative of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority constituted under the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Act, 1974 ;
22[(vi)five representatives (of which, two shall be women, one shall be a person belonging to the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes, one shall be a person belonging to the Other Backward Classes and one shall be a person belonging to the De-notified Tribes (Vimukta Jatis) or Nomadic Tribes), to be nominated by the State Government;]
(vii)the Director of Agricultural Marketing, Maharashtra State, Pune ;] 15(viii) [--------------------] 15(ix) [---------------------] 16[(b) a person who is a member of the Market Committee under sub-clauses (iii), (iv), (v) or (vii)of clause (a), shall have a right to take part in the discussions of the Committee, but shall not have a right to vote at a meeting thereof]."
12. Section 13 of the APMC Act provides for the constitution of the Market Committee. Under Section 13 of the APMC Act, Market Committee is to be constituted from amongst various members elected as well as nominated. Section 13 of the APMC Act creates a Market Committee for the specified area. This ::: Uploaded on - 08/03/2021 ::: Downloaded on - 29/08/2021 18:08:58 ::: 12 wp4030.18 Committee has to be constituted as provided by the provisions of Section 13(1)(a) to (g) of the APMC Act. Under clause (i) of sub- section (1)(a) of Section 13 of the APMC Act, member of managing committee from the cooperative societies gets a right to elect eleven members to the Market Committee. Under clause (ii) of sub-section (1)(a) of Section 13 of the APMC Act, member of village panchayat gets a right to elect four members to the Market Committee. The provision of electing a member of Managing Committee of the cooperative societies or member of village panchayat to the Market Committee is with the object that the interest of the cooperative societies and village panchayats is protected while conducting the affairs of the Market Committee in co-ordination with cooperative societies or village panchayats.
13. The membership of the Committee as per sub-section (1) of section 13 of said Act can be broadly divided into three categories. The first category consists of the elected members from different sections, such as agriculturists, traders, commission agents, etc.; whereas the second category consists of the representatives of panchayat samitis and other local authorities mentioned in Section 13 (1). The third category consists of members elected 'by virtue of their office' such as the member of the Managing Committee of co- operative societies and members of village panchayats. These ::: Uploaded on - 08/03/2021 ::: Downloaded on - 29/08/2021 18:08:58 ::: 13 wp4030.18 representatives from these three different categories constitute the Committee.
14. It would be proper at this stage to refer to section 15 of the APMC Act and particularly the proviso to sub-section (1) of that section. Sub-section (1) speaks about the term of office of Members of the Managing Committee. It reads as follows:
"(1) The term of office of members of a Market Committee shall be deemed to commence on the date of the first meeting of the Market Committee at which business is transacted:
Provided that, a person who is a member by virtue of his being a representative, or holding office or holding licence belonging to any of the categories of members referred to in sub-section (1) or (1A) of section 13, shall hold office as such member so long only as he continues to be such representative or to hold such office or such licence and on his ceasing to be such representative or holding such office or licence he shall cases to be such member and he shall be deemed to have vacated his office."
15. On careful reading of proviso to section 15 (1) of the APMC Act, it appears that it has no concern with the members who are directly elected from the different categories, such as agriculturists, traders, commission agents, etc , but the intention ::: Uploaded on - 08/03/2021 ::: Downloaded on - 29/08/2021 18:08:58 ::: 14 wp4030.18 and the purpose of this proviso is crystal clear. A person goes to the Agricultural Produce Market Committee by virtue of holding office such as a member of Managing Committee of a co-operative society or a member of village panchayat because he is clothed with the capacity of being a member of Managing Committee or a member of the village panchayat. As long as he holds the membership, he continues to function as a member of that Market Committee. As soon as he ceases to be the member of Managing Committee of a co-operative society or member of the village panchayat, he ceases to be the member of the Market Committee where he has to sit by virtue of his office in his parent organization. This appears to be the general scheme of the proviso to sub-section(1) of Section 15 of the APMC Act.
16. The proviso to Section 15(1) of the APMC Act envisages a situation where by 'virtue of holding office' as a member of the managing committee of cooperative society or member of village panchayat, a person is sent on the Market Committee, ceases to continue to be such member of Managing Committee or village panchayat and as soon as he ceases to continue to hold such office then necessarily the term of office of that person as a member of the Market Committee must be cut short and such person must be deemed to have vacated his office as a member of Marketing ::: Uploaded on - 08/03/2021 ::: Downloaded on - 29/08/2021 18:08:58 ::: 15 wp4030.18 Committee. It is not, therefore, correct to say that once a person has been elected on the Market Committee, he must continue as a member of the Market Committee for the full term of five years. If this contention is to be accepted, then the proviso to section 15(1) of the APMC Act will be rendered meaningless and can never be given effect to. The proviso contemplates a situation where the person elected by virtue of holding office can cease to hold office even during the term of the Market Committee. The words "shall hold office so long only as he continues to be such representative or to hold such office" used in the proviso to Section 15(1) of the APMC Act mandates that during the term of office of the member of a Market Committee, such person who is a member by 'virtue of office' can be discontinued as a member of Marketing Committee.
17. A person so elected by the members of the Managing Committee from the cooperative societies and village panchayats becomes a member of the Market Committee. It was in this manner that the petitioners became members of the Market Committee. When such essential qualification extinguishes, their right to continue as members of the Market Committee would automatically come to an end. When such members cease to be members of Managing Committee of cooperative society or members of the village panchayat, foundation of their right vanishes. When ::: Uploaded on - 08/03/2021 ::: Downloaded on - 29/08/2021 18:08:58 ::: 16 wp4030.18 qualification under section 13(1)(i) of the APMC Act itself does not survive, any further continuation of the petitioners as Members of the APMC would not arise. The position that emerges from provisions which we have referred to above shows that the Market Committee established under section 13 (1) of the APMC Act has a tenure of five years. This tenure is subject to the proviso to Section 15 of the APMC Act. This tenure is bound to be curtailed if any eventuality mentioned in that proviso occurs.
18. If the argument advanced by Shri Khapre, learned Senior Advocate is accepted, it would allow continuance of a member of Managing Committee of cooperative society who has ceased to be such member of managing committee, which has elected him to the managing Committee. Such interpretation would defeat the very object of sending of a member of Managing Committee from the cooperative societies or village panchayats to the Market Committee. It is to be noted that qualification for being a member of Market Committee is attached to continuance as a member of the Managing Committee of cooperative society or village panchayat. If his status as a member of the Managing Committee at any time is lost, the membership of the Market Committee would be deemed to have ceased .
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19. Rules 35 of the Rules of 1967 provides for preparation of a list of voters and division of the market area into constituencies, and it reads thus:
"35. Preparation of list of voters. Division of Market Area into constituencies. - [(1) For the purpose of electing 10 agriculturists, two members to be elected by Hamals and weighmen, as provided by clauses (a),
(b) and (b-1) of sub-section (1) of section 13, every market area shall consist of -
(A) Co-operative Societies' Constituency;
(B) Village Panchayat's Constituency ;
(C) Traders' Constituency; and (D) Hamals' and weighmen's Constituency.]"
The next Rule 36 (1) of the Rule of 1967, which provides of voters list reads as under:
"Voters' list. - [(1) The Collector shall call upon the District Deputy Registrar of Co-operative Societies to prepare and furnish to him a list of members of the Managing Committees of the Agricultural Credit Societies and the Multipurpose Co-operative Societies and call upon the Block Development Officer to prepare and furnish to him a list of members of the Village Panchayat showing distinctly the members belonging to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes functioning in the market area and the Market Committee to prepare and furnish to him the list of traders and hamals and weighmen licenced by the Committee within such time as may be specified by him. Thereafter, the Collection shall cause to be prepared separately for each of the Constituencies a voters' list for holding the elections to the Market Committees :
Provided that, where a person is qualified to vote from traders constituency or from Hamals' and ::: Uploaded on - 08/03/2021 ::: Downloaded on - 29/08/2021 18:08:58 ::: 18 wp4030.18 Weighmen's Constituency, his name shall appear in the respective registers maintained by the Market Committee at least 3 months before the preparation of such lists.]"
20. The language of Rules 35 (1) and 36 of Rules of 1967 lends support to the view that a person elected to market committee by virtue of his office as a Member of Managing Committee ceases to be such member upon ceasing to be such Managing Committee member. As per sub-Rule (1) of Rule 35 of the Rules, there are four constituencies for the purpose of electing members of the Market Committee. A person, who is member of the Managing Committee of the Agricultural credit society or multipurpose Cooperative Society would have the right to contest from the Cooperative Societies constituency. A member of the Village Panchayat would be entitled to contest from Village Panchayat constituency. Sub-Rule (1) of Rule 36 mandates Collector to prepare a list of members of the Managing Committees of Agricultural Credit Societies, Multi- Purpose Cooperative Societies and members of the Village Panchayats. It is only by 'virtue of holding office' of Managing Committee of an Agricultural Cooperative Society or Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society or member of Village Panchayat, that the names of members of the managing committee and members of village panchayat are included in the Voters list of Market Committee. ::: Uploaded on - 08/03/2021 ::: Downloaded on - 29/08/2021 18:08:58 :::
19 wp4030.18 Only those persons are entitled to contest the election of Market Committee whose names appear in the Voters list.
21. During the course of arguments much was debated on the question as to whether a member of Managing Committee elected from Cooperative Constituency or Village Panchayat Constituency can be termed as "representative" or a person "holding office". On meaningful reading of Section 13 (1)(a)(i) and (ii), Section 13 (1A) and Section 15 (1) of the APMC Act, we find a marked distinction in the description of members of Market Committee. Whereas sub-clause (a) to sub-clause (g) of sub-section (1) of Section 13 does not refer to any of the members to be elected to the Market Committee as representative but, sub-clause (a) of sub-Section (1A) of Section 13 refers to all the members of Marketing Committees as representatives of their respective categories. It is, in this context that the three categories of members mentioned in the proviso to sub-section (1) of Section 15 need to be interpreted. A person, who is elected as a member under sub-clause (a) of sub-section (1) of Section 13 represents the group of all Agricultural Credit Societies or Multi-Purpose Cooperative Societies or Village Panchayats functioning in the market area. Once, such member of a Managing Committing or a member of Village Panchayat is elected as a member of Marketing ::: Uploaded on - 08/03/2021 ::: Downloaded on - 29/08/2021 18:08:58 ::: 20 wp4030.18 Committee, he not only represents his parent cooperative society or Village Panchayat but he represents an entire group of all such Agricultural Credit Societies or Multi-Purpose Cooperative Societies or Village Panchayats functioning in the market area. Therefore, for the purpose of the proviso to sub-section (1) of Section 15, such member of Managing Committee is not a representative of his parent society but, he is elected by virtue of "holding office" of a member of Managing Committee of the Agricultural Credit Society, Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society or Village Panchayat functioning in the market area. We are, therefore, of the view that the term "representative" in the proviso to sub-section (1) of Section 15 is in the context of "representatives" mentioned in sub-clause (a) of sub- section (1A) of Section 13.
22. The judgments of the Supreme Court in the case of N.S.Varadahachari Vs. G.V. Pai and another reported in AIR 1973 SC 38, Kuldip Nayar Vs. Union of India and Ors. reported in AIR 2006 SC 3127 relied upon by Shri Khapre, learned senior advocate in support of his submission, that persons elected in their capacity as Managing Committee Members of the Cooperative Society would not fall within category of "representative" in proviso to Section 15 (1) of the said Act, are of no help for the purpose of deciding the issue involved in the present petition as both the judgments arose ::: Uploaded on - 08/03/2021 ::: Downloaded on - 29/08/2021 18:08:58 ::: 21 wp4030.18 out of provisions of the Representation of People Act, 1951, where the statutory scheme of election of a representative is entirely different from the scheme of the constitution of marketing committee under the APMC Act . There is no proviso in the Representation of People Act like the proviso to sub-section (1) of Section 15 of APMC Act.
23. In view of our detailed discussion made above, we hold that a member of Managing Committee of Agricultural Credit Societies, Multi-Purpose Cooperative Societies and Village Panchayats continues as member of the Market Committee, by virtue of his holding of office of such Managing Committee or Village Panchayat and not as a representative of his parent Cooperative Society or Village Panchayat.
24. In the result, we answer the question referred to us as under:
(i) The member of the APMC, who is elected by members of the Managing Committee of Agricultural Credit Societies and Multi-Purpose Cooperative Societies or members of Village Panchayats functioning in the market area ceases to be member of the APMC on ceasing to be the member of Managing Committee of ::: Uploaded on - 08/03/2021 ::: Downloaded on - 29/08/2021 18:08:58 ::: 22 wp4030.18 the Societies or Village Panchayats, in view of the proviso to Sub-
Section (1) of Section 15 of the Act.
(ii) We overrule the decision of the Division Bench in Writ Petition No.4092/2013 (Gajanan Ramkrishna Pachrape Vs The Hon'ble Minister).
(iii) We direct the Registry to place the matter before appropriate bench for disposal in accordance with law.
(iv) This Court records its appreciation for the valuable assistance rendered by Advocates Shri U S Dastane, Shri A.M. Ghare and Shri Firdos Mirza .
JUDGE JUDGE JUDGE
Ambulkar.
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