The Bombay High Court on Monday refused to pass any urgent orders staying the Maharashtra Government ordinance granting voting rights to four directors nominated to the Gokul Dairy board, but said votes cast by them during the November 10 poll for chairman should be kept in a separate ballot box.
The HC’s Aurangabad bench at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar gave the ruling while hearing a petition challenging the constitutional validity of the ordinance promulgated by the Government nominating directors to the board of Kolhapur District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Ltd (popularly known as Gokul Dairy).
Four nominated directors will be allowed to participate and cast their votes during the meeting scheduled on Tuesday (November 10) for electing chairman, but their ballot box would be kept separately, said a vacation bench.
The voting process would be video and photographed, it stated. The bench of Justice Neeraj Dhote was hearing the petition filed by the Samavichari Aghadi panel, that won 13 director posts in the Gokul Dairy election held last month, against the government’s decision allowing appointment of four members to the board with voting rights.
The court posted the matter for further hearing on November 25. As per the petitioner’s advocate, Srikrushna Ganbawle, the election results will be announced but the entire process will be subject to the final outcome of the plea.
“The four directors appointed through the ordinance are given the (voting) right. If they vote, their vote will be kept in a different ballot box so that these four votes can be separated when a hearing of the petition takes place,” Ganbawle said. Last week, the state cabinet approved the appointment of five Government-nominated members to the managing committees of cooperative institutions with an annual turnover of more than Rs 500 crore (including Gokul Dairy), excluding district central cooperative banks. Four of the members will be entitled to vote in the board of directors.
The Rajarshi Shahu Shetkari Samvichari Aghadi, led by Congress MLC Satej Patil, won 13 of the 25 seats in the October 19 elections to the Gokul Dairy board. The Mahayuti-backed panel won 12 seats, in a blow to the BJP-led ruling alliance, whose leaders had campaigned together in an effort to secure control of the influential cooperative institution.