In an important order, the Gujarat high court on Tuesday held that the model code of conduct (MCC) for elections cannot be applied to a cooperative society since it is not a government instrumentality.
A bench of Justice Harsha Devani and Justice Bhargav Karia quashed the district election officer’s order cancelling a special general body meeting that was to be convened by the Mehsana District Co-operative Milk Producers Union Ltd (Dudhsagar Dairy).
According to the dairy’s counsel Dipen Desai, the dairy set an agenda on March 8 to convene a meeting to amend its bylaws. On March 10, it decided to convene the meeting on March
24. The general election was announced on March 10 and the model code of conduct came into force.
On March 16, the district collector received a complaint that the dairy’s decision taken on March 10 to convene a meeting was a violation of the MCC. The district collector sought the district registrar’s opinion on March 19 and stopped the dairy from going ahead with its programme citing the MCC.
The dairy approached the HC contending that the MCC is not applicable to it, being a cooperative, because it does not avail of government funds.
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