- (1.) J. C. S. Rawat, J. Since there is a common question of law involved in all the petitions, therefore, all these petitions have been heard together and are being disposed of by this common judgment.
(2.) BY means of all these petitions, the petitioners have initially challenged the va lidity of the Uttarakhand Cooperative So cieties (Amendment) Ordinance, 2007 dated 22. 10. 2007 promulgated by the Governor of Uttarakhand by amending Section 29 of the Uttarakhand Coopera tive Societies Act, 2003 (hereinafter re ferred as 'principal Act, 2003 ). Thereaf ter, the aforesaid Ordinance was replaced by an Amendment Act known as "uttarakhand Cooperatives Societies (Amendment) Act, 2007 (Annexure-6 of Writ Petition No. l203 (MIB)2007) by which the tenure of the Management Commit tee of the Cooperative Societies and its elected members has been reduced from 5 years to 2 years. Consequently, the re spondent no. 4 appointed the Administra tors in all the Cooperative Societies at all levels in the State of Uttarakhand. The petitioners have challenged validity of the Uttarakhand Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Act, 2007 (hereinafter re ferred as 'amending Act, 2007'), reduc ing the tenure of the Management Com mittee and its elected members from 5 years, to 2 years, on the grounds that the sole intention of Amending Act 2007 was to dislodge the elected members of the Management Committee of Cooperative Societies to manage its affairs which is not only an infringement of the vested rights which have accrued in favour of the elected members of Committee of Man agement of the Cooperative Societies but it is an invasion over the fundamental, rights of the petitioners guaranteed under Article 19 (1 ) (c) of the Constitution of India; the Amending Act 2007 has been actuated by mala-fide and colourable ex ercise of power; the Amending Act 2007 curtailing the term of the Committee of Management is against the fundamental principle of formation of Cooperative So ciety and negates the principle of Coop erative Society. The respondent-Uttarakhand State has filed the counter affidavit and stated that the Amending Act, 2007 did not in fringe the fundamental rights of the peti tioners guaranteed under Article 19 (l) (c) of the Constitution of India; no citizen has a fundamental right under Article 19 (l) (c) of the Constitution to become a member of Cooperative Society; the rights of the petitioners as elected Members of the Man agement Committee in the Cooperative Societies are governed by the provisions of the Statute and the rights to become a Member of the Management Commit tee of the Cooperative Societies is a statu tory right; the State Legislative is compe tent to make an enactment with regard to the Cooperative Societies of the State; the Amending Act 2007 can only be chal lenged on the ground of lack of compe tence of the 'legislature to enact the law or it invades the fundamental rights of the petitioners guaranteed under Part-Ill of the Constitution; the Amending Act 2007 was enacted with a view to enshrine smooth and efficient working of the Committee of Management of Cooperative Societies as stated in the Objects and Reasons of the Bill; and the Legislature decided to reduce the terms from 5 years to 2 years in re spect of the Management Committee of the Cooperative Societies which are al ready constituted or which may be con stituted hereinafter which cannot be termed as arbitrary. We have heard the learned coun sel for the parties and perused the record.
(3.) SUB-clause (2) (3) and (4) of Sec tion 29 of the Uttarakhand Cooperative Societies Act, 2003 reads as follows : "29. Committee of Management- (1 ). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (2) The term of every Committee of Management shall be five years and the term of the elected members' of the Committee of Management shall be co-terminus with the term of such Committee. (3) Election to reconstitute the Com mittee of Management of a co-op erative society shall be completed in the prescribed manner under the, su perintendence, control and direction of the Registrar at least four months before the expiry of the term of the Committee of Management and the members so elected shall replace the Committee of Management whose term expires under sub-section (2); if the Committee of Management fails to do so 'then' Registrar will conduct the election before two months of expiry of the term of Management Committee. (4) It shall be the duty of Chief Ex ecutive (Secretary/gm/managing Di rector by whatsoever name he is des ignated; of the co-operative society to send to the Registrar, four months before the expiry of the term of Com mittee of Management, a requisition for conducting the election and to fur nish all such information as may be required by him within such period as may be fixed by him. " By the impugned Amendment, the following amendments were made in Section 29 of the Uttaranchal Coopera tive Societies Act, 2003 : THE UTTARAKHAND COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2007 (Bill NO. 3 of 2007) Further to amend the Uttaranchal Cooperative Societies Act, 2003 be enacted in the 58th year of the Republic of India as follows. A Bill Short title and commencement. Amendment of sub-section (2), (3) and (4) of Section (l)This Act may be called the commencement Uttarakhand Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Act, 2007 (2) It shall come into force at once. In section 29 of the Uttaranchal Cooperative Societies Act, 2003 following amendments shall be made; namely:- (a) In sub-section (2), the words "five years" shall be sub stituted by the words "two years" (b) The following proviso shall be added after sub-section (2), namely:- "provided that the tenure of the Management Committee' and its elected members, having completed the period of two years from the date of its constitution on or prior to the date of the commencement of the Act shall expire on such commencement". (c) In sub-section (3), the words "four months" and "two months" shall be substituted by the words "two months" and "one month" respectively. (d) In sub-section (4), the words "four months" shall be substituted by the words "two months".;