Co-operative Society – Membership – Discretion to refuse Membership to person not duly qualified – Not violative:Of Art 19(1)(c) Constitution of India and section 24(1): Gujarat Co-op Soc. Act, 1962

A Society validly constituted under the provisions of the Act has the right to admit any new member provided such member is duly qualified for admission under the provisions of the Act. Rules and the Bye laws of such society. Subsection (1) of section 24 however, gives a discretion to the Society to refuse admission to a new member who has applied and has requisite qualifications, subject however, that sufficient cause exists for refusing such membership. What is `sufficient cause,’ although, has not been defined under the Act, sub-section (3) of section 24 makes it mandatory for the society to give reasons in writing within a specified period and in terms of the scheme provided in sub-section (4) to sub-section (6), such reason is subject to challenge before the Registrar by way of an appeal. Although sub-section (6) of section 24 states that decision of the Registrar under sub-section (4) shall be final and shall not be called in question in any court, it is well settled that such provision does not stand in the way of the High Court for exercising judicial review. Decision of the Society being subject to appeal before a statutory authority and being subject to further judicial review before the concerned High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, none of the aforesaid provisions of section 24 can be said to be ultra vires any of the provisions of the Constitution of India.

Further, providing for the deemed membership to a person, who is not communicated the decision of the society to which he is seeking the membership within a period of three months, as provided in section 22(2) of the Act, does not violate Article 19(1)(c) of the Constitution of India. There are several such deeming provisions in various statutes and it is a consistent view of the courts that such provision is valid provided the applicant has the requisite qualifications. Thus, the provisions of section 24 or section 22(2) of the Act do not violate any of the provisions of the Constitution.