In a classic case the apex court of the country had to intervene and restore the entire board of district cooperative bank of Panna in Madhya Pradesh led by its chairman Sanjay Nagaich, who was sacked earlier. The court had ordered that the sacked team must be allowed to complete its remaining term.
Nagaich had filed a defamation case against agriculture minister Gaurishankar Bisen. The case dates back to August 27, 2011, when Bisen was the cooperative minister and had used casteist remarks against Nagaich and called him ‘a thief ‘ during a function of farmers in Panna.
Later Nagaich was sacked. He fought against his sacking first in local court and then in the High Court. He won, But the state govt knocked the doors of the Supreme Court. Nagaich other charges included use of abusive language by the minister.
The Supreme Court not only restored him but also observed, “We fail to notice why the state government, department of co-operative societies have taken so much interest in this litigation.”
The court has also ordered that the state of Madhya Pradesh should pay an amount of Rs 100,000 to the Madhya Pradesh Legal Services Authority in one month by way of costs and impose a cost of Rs10,000 as against joint registrar co-operative societies, Sagar, the officer who passed the order, which will be deducted from his salary and be deposited in Panna district cooperative bank.
Congrats Nagaich for fighting for rights of cooperators against the “wholly avoidable political and bureaucratic intervention” an avowed objective of 97th CAA. Things are improving for the Indian cooperative movement.