The worst fear of the ousted GCMMF Chairman Vipul Bhai Chaudhary was proved correct when on Thursday the Supreme Court delivered the judgment upholding his removal from the largest dairy cooperative of the country.
This was a quick second setback, just after a week wherein the State Co-operative Registrar ordered his removal from the Mehsana milk union, pending clearance from the apex court.
Though the Vipul camp employed legal luminaries such as Kapil Sibal and H. Ahmedi the apex court invoked the spirit of cooperative succinctly in arriving at this judgment. The highest court of the land referred to the definition of ICA’s Cooperative Identity and the spirit behind 97th Constitutional Amendment while passing the judgment.
Though as usual Vipul Chaudahary was not to be contacted, his close aide Mr Joseph PurathurKittan said he is disappointed. In his signed statement mailed to the Indian Cooperative Joseph replied “ had expected that the honourable SC will go by the provisions of Gujarat Cooperative Societies Act and the bylaws of GCMMF wherein there is no provision of no-confidence motion against an elected honourary chairman.”
With this the long legal battle involving Vipul Chaudhary and GCMMF comes to an end. Readers would recall that soon after Vipul’s decision to placate his political masters at the cost of dairy giant began, many of the milk unions associated with GCMMF rose up in arms against him. They objected to his autoocratic style.
Majority of milk unions demanded Board meeting to pass no-confidence motion against him which Vipul avoided on one pretext or the other. Finally he was removed leading him to the doors of first the Gujarat High Court and finally to the Supreme Court.
Cooperators wonder at the future course of his cooperative career in case the Supreme Court also dittos the Registrar’s order of removing him from his parent milk union Mehsana. Many feel this is inevitable in the wake of Thursday judgment.
