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"No person shall be eligible to hold the office of a president, or chairman or vice-president or vice-chairman on the board of a multi-State co-operative society, after he has held the office as aforesaid during two consecutive terms, whether full or part:
Provided that a person who has ceased to hold the office of a president or chairman continuously for one full term of three years shall again be eligible for election to the office aforesaid.
Explanation -- Where any person holding the office of the president or vice-president or chairman or vice-chairman at the commencement of this Act is again elected to that office after such commencement, he shall for the purpose of this section, be deemed to have held office for one term before such election."

15. The respondents, however, contend that there is another alternative remedy which is available to the petitioners under section 40 of the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act, 1984. Section 40 provides-

"If in spite of cessation of office under circumstances mentioned in section 34, section 36, section 37 or section 39 a member of the board refused to vacate his office, the Central Registrar shall, by order in writing, remove him from such office."

Section 34 deals with disqualifications for being a member of a board, such as being adjudged an insolvent or of unsound mind or being convicted for an offence involving moral turpitude. There are also other disqualifications which are set out in that section. Therefore, if a member has incurred any of these disqualifications, and he refuses to vacate the office, the Central Registrar can remove him. Section 36 deals with holding of office in more than one multi-State Cooperative Society. Section 37 deals with the restrictions on holding of office of a president or chairman or vice-president or vice-chairman for more than two consecutive terms at a time. Section 39 deals with the general body's power to remove an elected member of the board who has acted adversely to the interest of the multi-State Co-operative Society. The Central Registrar under section 40, therefore, supervises the enforcement of these provisions. When there is a clear violation of these provisions he can remove an office-bearer from the office. Section 40 does not deal with a challenge, to the nomination filed by a member on the ground that the member had held that office for more than two consecutive terms. Nor does section 40 deal with removal of a president who has been elected when there is a dispute as to whether that person has held office for more than 2 consecutive terms. In fact, section 40 does not provide any forum or machinery for adjudication of such disputes. Machinery for resolution of disputes is provided in section 74 and subsequent sections. Under section 90(1)(j) an appeal is also provided against a decision or order made under section 76 in respect of disputes which may have arisen under section 74. But this remedy is not available to the petitioners in view of the stay of section 74.

26. The question which is before us relates to the interpretation of S. 37. This section has been set out earlier. Under this section, no person shall be eligible to hold office inter alia of a president of the board of a multi-Slate Co-operative Society after he has held this office during two consecutive terms, whether full or part. The explanation to S. 37 provides that where a person was holding office inter alia of the president at the commencement of this Act and he is again elected to that office after such commencement, he shall, for the purpose of this section, be deemed to have held office for one term before such election. A plain reading of S. 37 along with the explanation would show that in a case like the present one, where a person was already holding the office of the president at the commencement of the Act in September 1985, and is subsequently elected as the president again, his earlier term before the election will also count as a term for the purpose of S. 37. In other words, if a person is president at the commencement of the Act and he is thereafter elected at any subsequent date as a president again, he cannot, on the expiry of his elected term, again stand for the office of the president for one full term of three years. In the present case on 16th September 1985, when the Act came into force, the 8th respondent was holding office of the president of the 6th respondent Bank by virtue of his nomination to that post on 30th June 1981. Thereafter, election was held on 6th April 1986 when he was elected as the president of the 6th respondent Bank. The elected term came to an end in April 1989. In view of the explanation to S. 37, therefore, respondent No. 8 has held two consecutive terms as a president of the board of respondent No. 6 Bank. Under the proviso to S. 37, therefore, he can become eligible again only after he has ceased to hold the office of the president continuously for one full term of three years and not till then. His election, therefore, as the president on the board of directors of respondent No. 6 in April 1989 is in violation of S. 37.

29. In this connection a reference may be made to the Statement of Objects and Reasons underlying the enactment. Of course, the Statement of Objects and Reasons cannot be brought in aid for interpreting Section 37. Nevertheless, it does indicate the background and the circumstances in which this legislation was brought into effect. The Notes on Clauses 36 and 37 state that no person shall hold office of Chairman or President, Vice-Chairman or Vice-President in more than one multi-State Co-operative society and shall not be eligible to hold such office for more than two consecutive terms. The respondents have drawn our attention to a notification dated 7th June, 1989 issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, New Delhi, bearing No. S.O.411(E). This notification deals with Section 37 and in particular, to the explanation to Section 37. The notification inter alia sets out that national co-operative societies and the chairman of some of such societies have represented to the Central Government that the provisions of the Explanation to Section 37 of the Act deprive some of such societies of the continuance of the holder of such offices for full two terms of a total permissible period of six years, which prejudicially affects the overall performance of such societies, particularly in view of the fact that the membership and operation of such societies is spread over to all the States. By this notification the Central Government has, therefore, provided that in the case of national co-operative societies, where any person holding office of the president or vice-president or chairman or vice-chairman in a national co-operative society is again elected to that office after such commencement, he shall be deemed to have held office for one term before such election only if he has held such office for more than one half of the full term before such election, provided the total continuous period for holding such office including the period for which the person has held such office before the commencement of the Act, shall not exceed the total continuous period of six years. While this notification is not directly relevant for us, it clearly brings out the underlying intention that a total term of office including the term of office held at the commencement of the Act, should not exceed a continuous period of six years. Had there been any intention to exclude, from this period of six years, the period during which the office was held by nomination, the same should have been expressly provided. In fact, such an exclusion would be clearly contrary to the intention that the continuous holding of office should not exceed six years. The whole objection of this section is to restrict the tenure of the person holding the office in a co-operative society. Interpreting the explanation as excluding a nominated term would defeat the very object of the section and the explanation.