Misra, J. - (1.) The Managing committee of the United Puri-Nimapara Central Co-operative Bank (opposite party No. 15) was superseded under Section 32(1) of the Orissa Cooperative Societies Act (hereinafter called Act) by ordef dated 1 -12-1978, and the Collector of Puri was appointed as the Administrator. In August, 1979, the Registrar of Cooperative Societies asked for the consent of the petitioner to be a member of the Committee of Administrators for the said Bank and after petitioner consented, on 31st of August. 1979, as psr Annexure 3. a Committee of Administrators with seven members including the petitioner was constituted in place of the Collector. In the Committee petitioner who was then a sitting member of Parliament and two members of the State Legislature were included. On: 7th of March, 1980, vide Annexure 4. the Registrar reconstituted the Committee of Administrators by dropping the petitioner as also the two other legislators and in the reconstituted Managing Committee there were eleven members in all with the Deputy Registrar of Co-operative Societies, Bhubaneswar Division, as the Chief Administrator. Four members were common in both the Committees and place of the three ejected representatives of the people included in the first Committee of Administrators seven other were taken in the reconstituted Committee of Administrators, Challenge in this application is to the reconstitution of the Committee of Administrators and dropping of the petitioner torn the reconstituted body without complying with the procedure laid down in Section 32(1) of the Act and alternately on the ground that without affording reasonable opportunity of being heard, the petitioner has been excluded from the Committee. According to the petitioner under Section 32 (1) ot the Act, after the Committee is removed, the Registrar has three alternatives: . (a) to appoint a new committee consisting of one or more members of the Society in its place; (b) to appoint one or more Administrators who need not be members of the Society; or (c) to appofnt any other Society with its consent, to manage the affairs of the Society for a specified period. In the instant case, action had been taken under clause (b) to appoint a Committee of Administrators. Sub-section (2) of that Section provides : 'The Committee or the Administrator or Administrators or the Society so appointed shall subject to the control of the Registrar and to such instructions as he may from time to time, give, have power to exercise all or any of the functions of the commutee. or of any officer or the society and take all such actions as may be expedient in the interests of the society and shall be deemed fcr all purposes of this Act and the rules and, bey-laws to be the Committee of such society." Relying on the provision of sub-sec. (2) the petitioner has contended that the Committee of Administrators which is deemed to be a regular Committee of Management could be removed only by complying with sub-sec (1) and since that has not been done, the reconstitution is contrary to law. It has afso been contended as an alternative argument that even if sub-section (1) is not attracted and compliance thereof was not a prerequisite for reconstitution of the Conmittee of Administrators, since petitioner had been-con- ferred with certain advantages by his appointment as a member of the Committee of Administrators in terms of Annexure 3, he could not be deprived of the same without complaince of the rules of natural justice, Fairplay required that he should have been told and heard in relation to the matter of his removal from the Committee.
(2.) On behalf of the opposite parties 1 to 4 a counter- affidavit has been filed in support of the action taken and it has been contended that the order under Annexure 4 is not open to challenge on either count.
(3.) Section 32(1) of the Act authorises the Registrar to remove the Committee of Management on the grounds specified therein, "Committee" has been defined in Section 2(c) of the Act to mean. "............the managing committee ofa Society by whatever name called to which the managment of the affairs of the society is enstrusted by or under this Ac,t or by the bye-laws of the society." Admittedly a new Committee had not been set up when the first Committee was removed and the Registrar had chosen to take action under Sec. 32(1) (b) of the Act first in appointing the Collector as the sole Administrator and later by, appointing a Committee of Administrators and replacing the Collector by the Committee. While clause (a) indicates that the Committee should consist of one or more members of the Society, cl.(b) authorises appointment of one Administrator or more Administrators who need not be members of the Society. Sub-section (2) does not have the effect of converting the Committee of Administrators to a Committee in terms of the bey-laws. Sub-section (1) must be confined to the 'Committee' in which under the Act or the Bye-laws the management of the affairs of theJSociety vests. The Administrator or the Committee of Administrators is not such a Committee. The effect of sub-section (2) is only in rrgard to exercise of powers and the deeming provision therein cannot be extended to make the Committee of Administrators a Committee referred' to in subsection (1) and in terms of the definition in Section 2(c) of the Act. The first contention advanced by Mr. Rath for the petitioner must, therefore, fail.;