Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960

The Jackson Co‑operative Credit Society appealed against a Bombay High Court order that directed it to pay bonus to its employees at 20% of total annual earnings for the years 1975‑76, 1976‑77 and 1977‑78. The Society contended that the High Court erred by ignoring deductions permissible under Section 6(d) of the Payme…

The appellants, tenant members of a housing co‑operative society, filed suits in the Bombay High Court seeking declaration that a resolution to sell society land and the subsequent conveyance to third parties were illegal and void. The respondents argued that the suits were barred by Sections 91 and 163 of the Maharash…

The Apex Co‑operative Bank of Urban Bank of Maharashtra and Goa Ltd. applied to the RBI for a licence to operate an apex bank covering Maharashtra and Goa. The RBI required the bank to be registered under the Multi‑State Co‑operative Societies Act, 1984, which the bank did, and the Maharashtra Government subsequently d…

The Bank, a co‑operative society, had a gratuity scheme offering 26 days' wages per year of service with a ceiling of Rs 2.5 million. Under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 (as amended), the statutory rate is 15 days' wages with a ceiling of Rs 3.5 million. After retirement, the employees claimed the benefit of both t…

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. (East‑I) challenged two notices issued by the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) under Section 299 of the Bombay Municipal Corporation Act, 1888, seeking possession of land that formed part of the regular street line. The appellant argued that the notices were invalid because no prior san…

The State of Maharashtra appealed against a Bombay High Court decision that held the chairman and managing committee members of a cooperative society were not "public servants" for purposes of Section 21 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA). The respondents had been prosecuted for o…

The appellant, a member of the managing committee of a Maharashtra co‑operative society, was denied the right to replace the society's previously nominated delegate with his own name for the election of the Maha Sangh, despite a resolution passed within the period allowed by Rule 5(2) of the Maharashtra Specified Co‑op…

The appellant, a shareholder and former director of Seva Vikas Co-operative Bank, filed FIR No. 806 of 2019 alleging financial fraud by the bank's chief executive and former chairperson based on a forensic audit report. The Bombay High Court quashed the FIR, holding that Section 81(5B) of the Maharashtra Co-operative S…

The plaintiffs, Margret Almeida & Ors., filed two suits against the Bombay Catholic Co-operative Housing Society Ltd., which the trial judge held maintainable and granted an interim order of status quo. The Division Bench of the Bombay High Court, relying on Section 91 of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 196…

The appellants complained that the Karkhana sugar factory had enrolled 6,617 persons who did not meet the eligibility criteria under the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960. After the Commissioner of Sugar failed to act, a writ petition led to an inquiry by the Regional Joint Director, who confirmed the inelig…

The appellants sought a restrictive voters list under the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies (Second Amendment) Act, 2000, arguing that the amendment should apply to societies that had already become members before the amendment. The High Court dismissed their writ, holding the list was finalised before the amendment. T…

Pundalik was elected Director of the District Central Co‑operative Bank, Chandrapur on 18 August 1986 while he was in arrears on a loan from the bank. The Maharashtra Co‑operative Societies Act, 1960 (section 73FF) disqualifies a defaulter from being elected or continuing as a committee member, and the Act came into fo…

The Goa State Cooperative Bank Ltd., appointed as liquidator of the Goa State Cooperative Fisheries Federation Ltd., filed 156 recovery suits against defaulting members for loans advanced by the Society. While many of these suits were stayed pending appeals, the Society’s winding‑up was deemed terminated after the six‑…

P.S. Sahni occupied a flat in Shyam Cooperative Housing Society under a written agreement dated 11 June 1969 that was labeled a "leave and licence" and expressly stated that the licensee would not claim tenancy. The Society and the licensor terminated the licence on 10 March 1972, after which Sahni refused to vacate an…

Smt. Mohini R. Adwani, a member of Maitrai Co-operative Housing Society, allotted flat No. 15 to the appellant, M.S. Ahluwalia, under a leave‑and‑licence agreement without the society’s prior consent. After the licence expired, the appellant continued to occupy the flat, using it as a canteen, and refused to vacate whe…

Esso Eastern Inc., later Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd., occupied a flat in Shyam Co‑operative Housing Society on a leave‑and‑licence basis from 1968, with the licence renewed yearly. By 1 February 1973 a subsisting licence existed, rendering the occupier a "deemed tenant" under section 15A of the Bombay Rent Act…

The appellant, a Mahila cooperative society, challenged the award of a contract for supplying fortified blended food under the Integrated Child Development Scheme, arguing that the eligibility criteria in the Expression of Interest (EOI) were arbitrary and that the contract period should be limited to one year. The Hig…

The dispute concerned the election of the managing committee of Shri Vathal Sakhar Sehakari Karkhana Ltd., a specified cooperative society whose term expired on 3 December 1991. The final list of voters was published on 17 December 1991, but the State Government postponed the election to 30 September 1992. Two members …

Padmasinhji Bajirao Patil and others challenged the constitutional validity of Section 144‑T of the Maharashtra Co‑operative Societies Act, 1960, which makes the order of the Commissioner or a specified officer in election disputes final and conclusive with no provision for appeal or revision. The petitioners argued th…

The borrower, a director of Vaishnavi Hatcheries, defaulted on loans from two cooperative banks and mortgaged four properties. After a recovery certificate was issued, the appellant bank conducted a public auction, issuing a sale certificate and deed in favour of the highest bidder. The borrower failed to apply within …

The case concerned a slum rehabilitation project in Lower Parel, Mumbai, where a developer and a minority group of hutment dwellers (Sayunkta Sangharsh Samiti) entered into a private Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to allocate flats in towers D, E and F exclusively to the society members, bypassing the Slum Rehabilit…

The Supreme Court examined whether sub‑section (2) of Section 73 of the Maharashtra Co‑operative Societies Act, 1960 – inserted by the 1986 amendment – imposes a mandatory duty on the Registrar to prescribe the maximum number of members of a co‑operative society’s committee and publish it in the Official Gazette, or wh…

The Maharashtra government appointed an Administrative Board for the Rokdeshwar Sahakari Soot Girni Ltd. under Section 157 of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960, extending its term to 19 June 2009. The board was appointed while a writ petition seeking election of the society’s Board of Directors was pendi…

The Supreme Court examined whether receipts such as non‑occupancy charges, transfer charges and common‑amenity‑fund contributions received by a premises cooperative society from its members are taxable as business income or exempt under the doctrine of mutuality. The Court held that the doctrine of mutuality, based on …

The JAI MAHAVIR Co‑operative Housing Society expelled a founding member, Panchal Keshavlal Narbheram, and the expulsion was approved by the Registrar under Section 36 of the Gujarat Co‑operative Societies Act, 1961. Panchal filed a petition under Section 96(1) to set aside the resolution; the Registrar referred the dis…

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) initially resolved in 1997 to allot 13,700 sq.mtr of land to a proposed co‑operative housing society of its employees, but the allotment lapsed because the society failed to fulfil the conditions. In 2003 the Authority, relying on a 1999 Government of Maharas…

Petitioner Pratibha Ramesh Patel filed a writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution challenging the constitutionality of sections 2, 12 and 15(a) of the Enforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Debts Laws (Amendment) Act, 2012, which incorporated cooperative societies within the SARFAESI regime. The sam…

The Registrar, invoking Section 102(1)(a) of the Maharashtra Co‑operative Societies Act, 1960, issued an interim winding‑up order against Industrial Co‑operative Association Ltd and appointed a special liquidator. The society appealed to the State Government under Section 104, but while the appeal was pending the liqui…

The case concerned several Maharashtra sugar‑co‑operative societies that deducted amounts from the cane price payable to their farmer members as non‑refundable and refundable deposits and as contributions to various funds. The Income Tax Department treated these deductions as trading receipts and taxed them under the I…

The respondents entered into an agreement to sell land to the appellants and paid Rs 10,000 as earnest money, but the appellants failed to execute the sale deed. The respondents sued for specific performance and, alternatively, for refund of the earnest money. The trial court awarded only the refund, while the first ap…

Western Press Pvt. Ltd., a company that was not a party to the proceedings before the Special Court under the Securities Act, 1992, sought to prevent its premises from being attached for recovery of public money siphoned through a group of companies. The Special Court had passed a consent decree ordering the respondent…

Kalabharati Advertising, an advertising hoarding firm, had obtained permission from a society and the Municipal Corporation to erect a hoarding in Mumbai. A public interest litigation led the High Court to form a committee that found the hoarding violated certain guidelines, prompting the corporation to issue orders su…

The appellant, a director of a Maharashtra cooperative society, was the sole nominee for the post of Chairman. The returning officer refused to declare him elected because the quorum for the special meeting was not met, despite the nomination being in order and unwithdrawn. The appellant filed a writ petition seeking a…

The appellants, Shashin Patel and Bhavini Patel, heirs of the original occupier of Flat No.7 in Malboro House Co‑operative Housing Society, sought admission as members of the Society by paying the required contribution many years after the Society’s formation. Their application was initially rejected by the Society’s A…

The Maharashtra State Co‑operative Bank Ltd. (the Bank) took possession of mortgaged property of Vainganga Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana Ltd. (the Karkhana) after the Karkhana defaulted on a loan and later sold the property to Wainganga Sugar and Power Ltd. The Karkhana’s employees obtained a recovery certificate under the …

The Greater Bombay Co‑operative Bank Ltd. advanced loans to its member company United Yarn Tex Pvt. Ltd. and sought recovery of the dues under the Maharashtra Co‑operative Societies Act, 1960. The High Courts held that, after the establishment of the Debt Recovery Tribunal under the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and F…

The Maharashtra cooperative society, engaged in sugar production, sought to delete about 2,000 members under Section 11 of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960, alleging they did not meet the bye‑law eligibility criteria. The Regional Joint Director (Sugar) issued an omnibus show‑cause notice and, without i…

The case concerned the rehabilitation of about 800 slum dwellers in Mumbai who owned the land through a cooperative society. Susme Builders (the appellant) and J.G. Developers (respondent No.4) each claimed to have the consent of at least 70% of the eligible slum dwellers required under the Development Control Regulati…

The petitioner, Arun B. Khanjire, disputed his liability for loans taken from ICHALKARANJI URBAN CO-OP BANK Ltd. and faced recovery proceedings under Section 101 of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960. The Assistant Registrar issued recovery certificates, which the petitioner challenged through writ petiti…

The petitioners sought an interim order declaring that the acquisition of a "cessed" building by MHADA under Chapter VIII‑A of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Act, 1976 was no longer necessary, as the landlord and tenants had entered into a development agreement while the substantive constitutional challen…

The plaintiff, a member of a cooperative society, obtained a loan from the society and created a charge on his ancestral agricultural land. He later sold the land to his nephew/son‑in‑law (defendant 1) on 2 Nov 1971 without repaying the loan or obtaining the society’s consent, and defendant 1 subsequently sold part of …

The appellant, Shilpa Shares and Securities, had taken a loan from the National Co-operative Bank Ltd. and defaulted on repayment. Under the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Rules, 1961, the bank initiated recovery proceedings and conducted an auction of the appellant's immovable property pursuant to Rule 107, which …

The appellant, Dudhganga Vikas Sewa Santha Maryadit, invested in the shares of the Kolhapur District Central Cooperative Bank Ltd. on 30‑12‑2002 and became a member of that federal society. An election for office‑bearers of the federal society was scheduled for April 2006, but the appellant's name was omitted from the …

The appellant society applied to register as a new Primary Agricultural Credit Co-operative Society (PACCS) but the Scrutiny Committee rejected the application on grounds of lack of financial viability and failure to meet statutory criteria. The State of Maharashtra, exercising its discretion under the Maharashtra Co-o…

The Public Concern for Governance Trust filed a public interest litigation challenging the allotment of six residential plots in Navi Mumbai to cooperative societies that were alleged to be dummy entities set up by Vijay Associates (Wadhwa) Developers. The Bombay High Court quashed the allotments, ordered forfeiture of…