With the Societies Registration (Amendment) Act, 2021 coming into force, any person convicted by the court and awarded sentence of two years or more is now disqualified to be a member and office-bearer of a society registered under the Act.
The amendment bill was passed by the UP Assembly in 2021 and notification for its enforcement was issued on July 18 after the receipt of Presidential assent. The Act provides for the registration of literary, scientific and charitable societies, including the societies running educational institutions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and they are covered by this Act. Over 3.5 lakh societies in Uttar Pradesh come under the purview of this Act.
UP Finance Minister Suresh Khanna said here on Wednesday that the Act was framed during the British colonial period in 1860 and the state government had been making periodic amendments in the Act as per the need.
The minister said the actual enforcement of the amended Act would take some time as the rules under the Act are being framed. He said the last time the rules were framed was in 1976 and the work on framing the new rules after the amendment in the Act was in progress.
Khanna said Section 3 and Section 4 of the Act had been amended and the societies would no longer be required to approach the High Court to appeal against the orders passed by the deputy registrar and assistant registrar in the matters of registration, renewal, selection and election of the office-bearers of the society.
The amendment in the Act provides for the appeal in the office of the divisional commissioner instead of the High Court. Presently 1,500 cases are pending in the High Court. The amended Act has come into force from prospective effect or from July 18, 2022.
There was no provision of appeal in the Act against the decision of the registrar given under Section 3 and Section 4 and the decision of the prescribed authority. The only remedy available to the aggrieved person was to file a writ petition in the High Court which was time consuming and costly for the common people.
The amendment in the Act has also placed restrictions on the transfer of fixed assets/property of the society registered under the Act. For curbing the irregularities and malpractices, the assets can be transferred to a third party only with the approval of the competent court.
Following an amendment to the act in 2009 during the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party government, the condition of transfer of property with court approval was withdrawn and it led to a large number of irregularities.