Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Amendment Act 2013 - Part VI


Part – VI




Amendment of section 82 of Maharashtra XXIV of 1961.
Sec. 51.

In section 82 of the principal Act,-


(a)
after the words “and report to the Registrar the action taken by it thereon” the words “and place the same before the next general body meeting” shall be inserted;


(b)
for the words “Where the society concerned is a member of a federal society, such order shall be made after consulting the federal society.”, the following shall be substituted, namely:-



“If, the committee of a society fails to submit the audit rectification report to the Registrar and to the annual general body meeting, all the members of the committee shall be deemed to have committed an offence under section 146 and accordingly shall be liable for penalty as provided in section 147. Where the society concerned is a member of a federal society, such order of imposition of penalty shall be made after consulting the State federal society concerned:



Provided that, the Registrar or the person authorised by him shall scrutinise the audit rectification report accordingly and inform the society about such report within six months from the date of receipt thereof:



Provided further that, it shall be the responsibility of the auditor concerned to offer his remarks on the rectification report of the society, item wise, till entire rectification is made by the society and submit his report to the Registrar :



Provided also that, such federal society shall communicate its opinion to the Registrar within a period of forty-five days from the date of receipt of communication, failing which it shall be presumed that such federal society has no objection to the proposed action and the Registrar shall be at liberty to proceed further to take action accordingly.”



Amendment of section 83 of Maharashtra XXIV of 1961.
Sec. 52.

In section 83 of the principal Act,-


(a)
for sub-section (1), the following sub-section shall be substituted, namely :-



“(1) The Registrar may suo motu, or, on the application of the one-fifth members of the society or on the basis of Special Report under the third proviso to sub-section (5B) of section 81, himself or by a person duly authorised by him in writing, in this behalf, shall hold an inquiry into the constitution, working and financial conditions of the society.”;


(b)
in sub-section (3),-



(i) in clause (b), for the words “ five hundred rupees” the words “five thousand rupees” shall be substituted;



(ii) after clause (b), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:-


(c)
“The Registrar or the officer authorised by him shall complete the inquiry and submit his report as far as possible within a period of six months and in any case not later than nine months.”



Amendment of section 85 of Maharashtra XXIV of 1961.
Sec. 53.

In section 85 of the principal Act, in sub-section (1), after the words “deceased members of the society” the words “and pass such order within a period of six months from the date of submission of inquiry report” shall be inserted.



Amendment of section 88 of Maharashtra XXIV of 1961.
Sec. 54.

In section 88 of the principal Act, to sub-section (1), the following provisos shall be added, namely:-



“Provided that, proceedings under this sub-section, shall be completed by the authorised person within a period of two years from the date of issue of order by the Registrar :



Provided further that, the Registrar may, after recording the reasons therefor, extend the said period for a maximum period of six months.”




Amendment of section 89A of Maharashtra XXIV of 1961.
Sec. 55.

In section 89A of the principal Act, in sub-section (1),-


(a)
for clause (c), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:-



“(c) overall view is taken to ensure that the business of the society is being run on sound business principles and under professional and efficient management;”;


(b)
in clause (d), the proviso shall be deleted;


(c)
after clause (d), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:-


(e)
“the returns as provided by section 79 are submitted to the Registrar regularly and properly.”.



Amendment of section 91 of Maharashtra XXIV of 1961.
Sec. 56.

In section 91 of the principal Act, in sub-section (1),-


(a)
the words “other than elections of committees of the specified societies including its officers,” shall be deleted;


(b)
in the proviso, the words “other than a notified society under section 73IC or a society specified by or under section 73G,” shall be deleted



Amendment of section 92 of Maharashtra XXIV of 1961.
Sec. 57.

In section 92 of the principal Act, in sub-section (1), in clause (c), for the words, figures and letters “or an administrator has been appointed under section 77A or 78, be six years from the date of the order issued under section 102, or section 77A or 78, as the case may be” the following shall be substituted, namely:-



“Or an administrator or committee or authorised person has been appointed under sections 77A, 78 or 78A, be six years from the date of the order issued under section 77A, 78 or 78A or, under section 102, as the case may be”.



Amendment of section 93 of Maharashtra XXIV of 1961.
Sec. 58.

In section 93 of the principal Act, after sub-section (2), the following sub-sections shall be added, namely:-



“(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, where it appears to the Co-operative Court that there exist elements of settlement which may be acceptable to the parties, the court may formulate the terms of the settlement and give the same to the parties for their observation and after receiving the observations of the parties, the court shall reformulate the terms of possible settlement and refer the dispute for,-



(i) Arbitration;



(ii) Conciliation;



(iii) Judicial Settlement, including settlement through Lok-Adalat;



(iv) Mediation.



(4) Where a dispute has been referred -


(a)
for arbitration or conciliation, the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 shall apply, as if the proceedings for arbitration and conciliation were referred for settlement of the dispute under the provisions of the said Act;


(b)
to Lok-Adalat, the Court may refer the same to the Lok-Adalat in accordance with the provisions of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 and all other provisions of that Act shall apply in respect of the dispute so referred to the Lok-Adalat;


(c)
for judicial settlement, the Court may refer the same to a suitable institution or a person working in that field and such institution or a person shall be deemed to be a Lok-Adalat and all the provisions of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 shall apply as if the disputes were referred to Lok-Adalat under the provisions of the said Act;


(d)
for mediation, the court may effect compromise between the parties and shall follow such procedure as may be prescribed.”.



Amendment of section 94 of Maharashtra XXIV of 1961.
Sec. 59.

In section 94 of the principal Act, for sub-section (3A), the following sub-sections shall be substituted, namely:-



“(3A) If the disputant is present and the opponent is absent, when the dispute is called out for hearing, the Co-operative Court may decide the dispute ex-parte, and pass an award. The Co-operative Court, may set aside the ex-parte award upon such terms as to the payment of costs, to the court or otherwise as it thinks fit, if the opponent makes an application within thirty days from the date of the award, and satisfies the court that there was sufficient cause for his failure to appear, when the dispute was called out for hearing and appoint a day for hearing and deciding the dispute on merits.



(3B) If the opponent is present and the disputant is absent, when the matter is called out for hearing, the Co-operative Court may dismiss the dispute for default, and pass an award accordingly. The Co-operative Court may restore the dispute which is dismissed for default and restore the same, upon such terms as to the payment of costs, as it thinks fit, if the disputant makes an application within thirty days from the date of its dismissal, and satisfies the court that there was sufficient cause for his failure to appear, when the dispute was called for hearing and appoint a day for hearing and deciding the dispute on merits.”.



Amendment of section 95 of Maharashtra XXIV of 1961.
Sec. 60.

In section 95 of the principal Act, in sub-section (1),-


(a)
for the figures and word “ 93 or 105” the figures and word “ 91, 93 or 105” shall be substituted;


(b)
for the words "authorised person" wherever they occur, the words" authorised officer" shall be substituted.



Amendment of section 96 of Maharashtra XXIV of 1961.
Sec. 61.

In section 96 of the principal Act, for the words “to arbitration, the Co-operative Court, may, after giving reasonable opportunity to the parties to the dispute to be heard, make an award on the dispute” the following shall be substituted, namely:-



“to the Co-operative Court, it may, after giving a reasonable opportunity of being heard, to the parties to the dispute, make an award regarding the dispute”.



Amendment of section 97 of Maharashtra XXIV of 1961.
Sec. 62.

In section 97 of the principal Act, for the words "authorised person" the words "authorised officer" shall be substituted.



Amendment of section 98 of Maharashtra XXIV of 1961.
Sec. 63.

In section 98 of the principal Act,-


(a)
for the words "a person authorised" the words "an authorised officer" shall be substituted;


(b)
for the words and figures “in revision under section 154 shall” the following shall be substituted, namely:-



“by the State Government or by the Registrar in revision under section 154 or every order passed by the Registrar for recovery under this Act shall”;


(c)
in the proviso, after the words “signed by the Registrar” the words “or Co-operative Court” shall be inserted.



Amendment of section 101 of Maharashtra XXIV of 1961.
Sec. 64.

In section 101 of the principal Act,-


(a)
in sub-section (1),-



(i) for the words “by a co-operative housing society for the recovery of arrears of its dues” the following shall be substituted, namely :-



“by a co-operative housing society, for the recovery of its dues or for the recovery of its maintenance and service charges”;



(ii) after the words “an urban co-operative bank for the recovery of the arrears of its dues”, the following shall be inserted, namely:-



“or any sum advanced by the District Central Co-operative Bank to its individual members or by non-agricultural co-operative credit society for the recovery of the arrears of its dues”;



(iii) for the words “on the society concerned furnishing a statement of accounts” the words “on the society concerned furnishing a statement of accounts and any other documents as may be prescribed” shall be substituted;



(iv) the existing Explanation shall be re-numbered as  “Explanation I” and after Explanation I, as so re-numbered, the following Explanation shall be inserted, namely:-



“Explanation II.- For the purposes of this sub-section the expression “maintenance and service charges” means such charges as are specified in the by-laws of the concerned co-operative housing society.”;


(b)
in sub-section (3), for the words “for the recovery of land revenue”, the following shall be substituted, namely:-



“as arrears of land revenue. A revision shall lie against such order or grant of certificate, in the manner laid down under section 154 and such certificate shall not be liable to be questioned in any Court.” ;


(c)
for the marginal note, the following marginal note shall be substituted, namely:-



"Recovery of certain sums and arrears due to certain societies as arrears of land revenue."



Amendment of section 102 of Maharashtra XXIV of 1961.
Sec. 65.

In section 102 of the principal Act, in sub-section (1), in clause (a), after the words and figures “under section 84” the word, figures and letter “or 89A” shall be inserted.



Amendment of section 109 of Maharashtra XXIV of 1961.
Sec. 66.

In section 109 of the principal Act, in sub-section (1), after the first proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-



“Provided further that, if, due to termination of liquidation proceedings at the end of ten years, the Registrar comes to a conclusion that, the work of liquidation under section 105 could not be completed by the liquidator due to the reasons beyond his control, he shall call upon the liquidator to submit the report. After getting the report, if the Registrar is satisfied that the realization of assets, properties, sale of properties still remained to be realised, he shall direct the liquidator to complete the entire work and carry out the activities only for the purposes of winding up and submit his report within such period not exceeding one year reckoned from the date of receipt of report from the liquidator.”.