In a significant order, the Cooperative Ombudsman has directed the Central Government Employees Consumer Cooperative Society Ltd. (popularly known as Kendriya Bhandar) to provide information and documents sought by its member, Rakesh Gupta, within 15 days.
The ruling comes after a prolonged tussle between the complainant and the society, during which Gupta filed a series of complaints citing Section 108 of the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (MSCS) Act, 2002.
Over the past few months, Gupta had sought wide-ranging details on recruitment rules, appointments of senior officials, procurement and sale of Bharat Atta and Bharat Rice, quality standards for organic pulses, details of vendors, GST compliance by private entities, vigilance actions, and copies of board meeting minutes and audit reports.
Despite repeated notices from the Ombudsman, Kendriya Bhandar consistently refused to share the information. The society argued that its General Body had resolved not to entertain Gupta’s correspondence, citing reasons of confidentiality, provisions of the IT (Amendment) Act, 2023, and even questioning the complainant’s credentials and intentions.
It also referred to pending clarifications from the Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies and invoked a Supreme Court judgment on personal information privacy.
The Ombudsman, however, rejected these grounds. Observing that the Delhi High Court had already restored Gupta’s membership and clarified that pendency of his petitions would not bar consideration of his requests, the Ombudsman ruled that the society cannot use General Body resolutions or allegations about Gupta’s motives to override statutory rights under the MSCS Act.
“General Body has to function within the provisions of the MSCS Act, rules and bye-laws, and has no authority to take decisions beyond its mandate,” the order stated. It further added that under Section 108 of the Act, a multi-state cooperative society is mandated to produce books of account, records, and other papers for inspection by its members.
Accordingly, Kendriya Bhandar has been directed to provide the requested information/documents within 15 days and submit a compliance report thereafter.
This order marks a notable assertion of members’ statutory rights in multi-state cooperatives, particularly in the context of transparency and accountability in institutions like Kendriya Bhandar that play a critical role in public distribution and consumer services.
