The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed as infructuous the petitions concerning the National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) Governing Council election, removing the pending legal proceedings before the Court in relation to the election.
A Bench of Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe held that, “by the passage of time,” the Special Leave Petitions had become infructuous. The Court, however, kept the questions of law open for consideration in an appropriate case.
The proceedings originated from the Supreme Court’s May 4 interim order, under which National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCEL), National Cooperative Organics Limited (NCOL) and Bharatiya Beej Sahakari Samiti Limited (BBSSL) were permitted to participate in the NCUI election and cast their votes. The Court directed that their votes be kept in sealed cover and that declaration of the election result would remain subject to further orders.
The matter was subsequently listed on July 20, when the Court directed that it be re-listed on August 14.
With the SLPs now dismissed as infructuous, there is no longer a pending proceeding before the Supreme Court in these petitions. However, the August 14 order does not specifically direct the Returning Officer or any election authority to declare the Group-II result, nor does it prescribe a date for the election of NCUI office-bearers.
The May 4 order had clarified that the directions concerning completion of the election process were to be implemented by the Competent Authority under the statute, and not by the Administrator. The Authority was directed to take necessary steps for completion of the process.
Group-II represents the National Cooperative Societies/Federations constituency, where six candidates contested for five seats. According to the election count, conducted after excluding the three sealed ballots, NCCF Chairman Vishal Singh secured 11 votes, followed by IFFCO Chairman Dileep Sanghani with 10 and NAFED Director Mohanbhai Kundariya with nine. KRIBHCO Director Bipin Patel and NDDB Chairman Meenesh Shah received eight votes each, while one vote was rejected.
The election authority has already approved the results of 15 Governing Council members from Group-I, Group-III and Group-IV constituencies. The five Group-II seats therefore remain to be formally completed.
The disposal of the Supreme Court proceedings is expected to facilitate the next steps in the NCUI election process. Once the Group-II result is formally completed by the competent election authority, the process can move towards the election of NCUI office-bearers, including the President and Vice President. The schedule for that election will have to be announced by the competent authority in accordance with the applicable electoral process.
