Sharma, J. - (1.) The petitioners (including the appellants in civil appeals also) have challenged the constitutional validity of S.73A of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960, as being violative of Arts. 14, 19(l)(c) and 19(l)(g) of the Constitution of India. As all these cases have been heard together, they are being disposed of by this common judgment. Except where otherwise indicated, we are proceeding to refer to the facts of Civil Appeal No. 2706 of 1988 which has been treated as the leading case.
(2.) By the impugned provisions a designated officer as defined in Section 73A(l) is not allowed to hold office in more than one society in violation of the restrictions mentioned in sub-sections (2) and (4) thereof; and by sub-sec. (5) the maximum period available to a designated officer to continue in office has been fixed in peremptory terms. Before proceeding further it will be useful to examine the provisions of sub-sections (1), (2), (4) and (5) of S. 73A which are in the following terms: "73A. (1) In this section and in Ss. 73C, 73D and 73E, "a designated officer" means the Chairman and the President, and includes any other officer of the society as may be declared by the State Government, by notification in the Official Gazette, to be a designated officer, but does not include, any officer appointed or nominated by the State Government or by the Registrar." "(2) No person shall at the same time, be or continue to be a designated officer of more than one society falling in Category I or Category II or Category III of the categories mentioned below; and shall not be or continue to be a designated officer in more than two societies in the aggregate in the three categories: Category I - Societies, the area -of operation of which extends, to the whole of the State,- Category II - Societies, the area of operation of which does not extend to the whole of the State (a) but extends to Greater Bombay and the authorised share capital of which is more than Rs. 10 lakhs; or (b) but extends to one or more districts; or (c) is less than a district and the authorised share capital of which is more than Rs. 10 lakhs, Category III -Societies, the area of operation of which does not extend to the whole of a district but extends to one or more talukas, or the authorised share capital of which is not more than Rs. 10 lakhs but is not less than Rs. 5 lakhs. Explanation For the purposes of this sub-section, the expression "society" shall not include a society with no share capital and a society not engaged in commercial activities. " "(4) If any person becomes, at the same time, a designated officer of societies, in excess of the number prescribed under sub-set. (2), unless he resigns his office in the society or societies in excess of the said number within a period of ten days from the date on which he is elected or appointed a designated officer of more than the permissible number of society or societies, or if the elections or appointments are held or made simultaneously, from the date on which the result of last of such elections or appointments is declared, he shall, at the expiration of the said period of ten days, cease to be a designated officer of all such societies and thereupon, notwithstanding anything contained in any other provisions of this Act, a person so resigning or ceasing to be a designated officer of any or all such societies shall not be eligible for being re-elected or re-appointed as a designated officer of such society or societies during the remainder of the term of office for which he was so elected or appointed; and at no point of time such person shall be a designated officer of societies in excess of the number prescribed under sub-sec. (2)." "(5) No person shall be, or shall continue to be, a designated officer of any society of any of the categories referred- to in sub-section (2), for a period of more than ten years in the aggregate and at the expiration of that period any such person shall cease to be a designated officer of that society, and shall not be eligible for being re-elected or re-appointed as a designated officer, until a period of one term of the committee has elapsed after completion of the aforesaid period of ten years. Explanation - For the purposes of this sub-section (a) in calculating the aggregate period of ten years in office, any period for which the person concerned may have been such officer, before the commencement of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies (Second Amendment) Act, 1969, shall be ignored; (b) if any person resigns his office as a designated officer at any time within twelve months of the date on which the aggregate period of ten years would, but for his resignation, have been completed, he shall he deemed to have completed the period of ten years on his resignation."
(3.) According to the case of the petitioners, the designated officers are entitled to manage the affairs of the co-operative societies as entrusted to them by the members, without any interference by the Legislature, and the restrictions imposed by the impugned provisions are violative of their fundamental rights as protected by Art. 19(1)(c) and (g) of the Constitution. The members of a co-operative society, according to the argument, are entitled to conduct the affairs of the society in accordance to their choice and any interference in this is uncalled for. We were not able to fully appreciate this argument, and so we pointed out to Mr. Anil B. Divan, the learned counsel for the petitioners (that is, the appellants in Civil Appeal No. 2706/ 88), that there was no impediment in the running of the societies, and the impugned provisions are attracted only in such cases where the societies are desirous of being registered under the Act with a view to take advantage of the provisions thereunder. The Act does not place any restriction on the formation of any association or union for carrying on any trade or business, nor does it require such unions or societies to be registered under the Act. The petitioner-societies were free to proceed as they wished (of course, they could not be allowed to contravene any law) without being subjected to any condition placed by the Act, but in that case they would not be entitled to the benefits of the Act. Mr. Divan appreciating the situation, explained his point by saying that as a consequence of S. 145 of the Act an unregistered society is not entitled to use the word "co-operative" in its name or title (without the sanction of the State Government) and this by itself puts the society under a disadvantage, affecting its trade and business. The learned counsel fairly conceded that he is not in a position to rely on any other circumstance in support of his argument based on Art. 19(1)(c) and (g). We do not find any merit in this point which is solely based on the ban of the use of the word "co-operative", by S. 145. The restriction is clearly reasonable and in the interest of the general public and is, therefore, saved by Cl. (6) of Art. 19. The purpose of S. 145 is to ensure that the general public has adequate notice that a society they may have to deal with, is unregistered and, therefore, not amenable to the provisions of the Act, before taking a decision about their relationship with the same. The persons desirous of running such a society have been placed under an obligation to publicly declare that their society is not registered under the Act, and we do not see any valid objection to this course. The main argument of Mr. Divan is, therefore, overruled.;