Section 23 in The Maharashtra Co-Operative Societies Act, 1960
23. Open membership.
(1)No society shall, without sufficient cause, refuse admission to membership to any person duly qualified therefor under the provisions of this Act and its by-laws.(1A)[ Where a society refuses to accept the application from an eligible person for admission as a member, or the payment made by him in respect of membership, such person may tender an application in such form as may be prescribed together with payment in respect of membership, if any, to the Registrar, who shall forward the application and the amount, if any so paid, to the society concerned within thirty days from the date of receipt of such application and the amount; and thereupon if the society fails to communicate any decision to the applicant within sixty days from the date of receipt of such application and the amount by the society, the applicant shall be deemed to have become a member of such society.] [Sub-section (1A) was inserted by Maharashtra 20 of 1986, Section 13(a).] [If any question arises whether a person has become a deemed member or otherwise, the same shall be decided by the Registrar after giving a reasonable opportunity of being heard to all the concerned parties.] [These words were added by Maharashtra 7 of 1997, Section 3.](2)Any person aggrieved by the decision of a society, refusing him admission to its membership, may appeal to the Registrar [within a period of sixty days from the date of the decision of the society] [These words were inserted by Maharashtra Act No. 16 of 2013 dated 13-8-2013, Section 12, (w.e.f. 14-2-2013).]. [Every such appeal, as far as possible, be disposed of by the Registrar within a period of three months from the date of its receipt:Provided that, where such appeal is not so disposed of within the said period of three months, the Registrar shall record the reasons for the delay.] [This portion was added by Maharashtra 20 of 1986, Section 13(b).](3)The decision of the Registrar in appeal, shall be final and the Registrar shall communicate his decision to the parties within fifteen days from the date thereof.(4)[ Without prejudice to the foregoing provisions of this section, in the case of agro-processing societies or any other society for which a definite zone or an area of operation is allotted by the State Government or the Registrar, it shall be obligatory on the part of such society to admit, on an application made to it, every eligible person from that zone or the area of operation, as the case may be, as a member of such society, unless such person is already registered as a member of any other such society, in the same zone or the area of operation.] [Sub-section 4 was added by Maharashtra 20 of 1986, Section 13(c).]
