The Allahabad High Court has stayed the proposed appointment of an interim committee at the District Co-operative Bank Limited, Etawah, allowing the bank’s existing elected Committee of Management (Board of Directors) to continue in office even after the expiry of its scheduled term, until a newly elected board takes charge.
The order was passed by a Division Bench comprising Justice J.J. Munir and Justice Indrajeet Shukla while hearing a writ petition filed by the bank’s existing Committee of Management.
The term of the present board is scheduled to expire on September 28, 2026. According to the proceedings, the bank’s management had informed the authorities on May 19, 2026, about the approaching end of its term. Following this, the concerned department wrote to the Uttar Pradesh State Co-operative Societies Election Commission on June 6, 2026, requesting that the election process be initiated.
During the hearing, the Election Commission informed the Court that elections to primary cooperative societies were scheduled to be held between October 26 and November 5, 2026.
Elections to central cooperative societies, including the Etawah District Co-operative Bank, would follow thereafter. The Commission indicated that completing the election process for the bank could take around three months.
The High Court, while considering the matter, observed that replacing an elected management with a non-elected interim body could run contrary to the representative character of the cooperative movement.
The Bench also made a prima facie observation that necessary steps for holding elections appeared not to have been taken in time despite the authorities being informed well before the expiry of the board’s term.
However, the Court has not given the existing board unrestricted powers. During the continuation period, the Committee of Management has been restrained from taking major policy decisions, making significant financial expenditures and enrolling new members.
The arrangement is therefore intended to ensure that the bank’s elected management continues to oversee its routine affairs until the election process is completed and the newly elected board assumes charge.
The State counsel has been granted two weeks to file a counter-affidavit. The matter has been listed for further orders on September 29, 2026.
