UTTAR
PRADESH CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2013 THE UTTAR PRADESH CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES
(AMENDMENT) ACT, 2013[1] [Act No. 13 of 2013] An Act further to amend the Uttar Pradesh
Co-operative Societies Act, 1965 It
is hereby enacted in the Sixty-fourth Year of the Republic of India as
follows-- Prefatory Note--Statement of Objects and Reasons.--With a view to making the provisions in accordance
with the 97th Amendment 2011 in the Constitution of India, it has become
necessary to amend the Uttar Pradesh Co-operative Societies Act, 1965 to
provide for ensuring the democratic feature, reservation norms in the Committee of Management of
the Co-operative Societies, bringing about uniformity in the term of Committee
of Management, making a centralized system for the election of the Committee of
Management, office bearers and delegates of the Co-operative Societies,
completing the proceedings of suspension and supersession of the Committee of
Management of the Co-operative Societies in the stipulated time frame and
making mandatory provision for audit of accounts of Co-operative Societies. It
has therefore been decided to amend the Uttar Pradesh Co-operative Societies
Act, 1965 (U.P. Act no. 11 of 1966) for the said purposes. The
Uttar Pradesh Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2013 is introduced
accordingly. (1) This Act may be called the Uttar Pradesh
Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Act, 2013. (2) It shall be deemed to have come into force on
February 15, 2013. In
Section 2 of the Uttar Pradesh Co-operative Societies Act, 1965 hereinafter
referred to as the principal Act, after clause (j) the following clause shall
be inserted, namely-- "(jj)
"Election Commission" means the Uttar Pradesh State Co-operative
Societies Election Commission constituted by the State Government;" In
Section 29 of the principal Act, for sub-sections (2), (3), (4), (5), (6) and
(7) the following sub-sections shall be substituted, namely-- "(2) (a) The term of every Committee of
Management shall be five years and the term of elected members of the Committee
of Management shall be co-terminus with the term of such Committee. (b) The provisions of clause (a) shall apply also
to a Committee of Management in existence on the date of the commencement of
the Uttar Pradesh Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Act, 2013 and to the
elected members of such committee. (3) ??Election
to reconstitute the Committee of Management of every Co-operative Society shall
be completed in the prescribed manner under the superintendence, control and
direction of the Election Commission at least fifteen days before the expiry of
the term of the Committee of Management and the members so elected shall
replace the Committee of Management whose term expires under sub-section (2): Provided
that where the Election Commission is satisfied that the circumstances exist
which render it difficult for it to hold the election on the date fixed, it may
postpone the election and all proceedings with reference to the election shall
commence afresh in all respects. (4)? ?It shall be the duty of the Secretary or the
Managing Director of the cooperative society as the case may be, to send to the
Election Commission four months before the expiry of the term of the Committee
of Management, a requisition for conducting the election and to furnish all
such information as may be required by the election commission within such
period as may be fixed by it. (5) ??A
co-operative society may have as many members in its Committee of Management as
may be provided in its bye-laws but an Apex Society may have its Committee of
Management subject to a maximum of seventeen members, a central society may
have its Committee of Management subject to a maximum of fifteen members and
every other co-operative society may have its Committee of Management subject to
a maximum of thirteen members. Any other committee or sub-committee of the
society shall be smaller than its Committee of Management and in no case such
committee or sub-committee shall consist of more than seven members: Provided
that in the Committee of Management of every co-operative society four seats
shall be reserved of which one shall be for the person belonging to the
Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes, one shall be a person belonging to
the Other Backward Classes of Citizens and two shall be for the women. (6)? ?Notwithstanding anything to the contrary
contained in any other provision of this Act, the Committee of Management of
every Co-operative Society shall co-opt at least two professional persons
having special knowledge or experience in the field of accounting, law,
banking, management, agriculture or rural economy as may be stipulated by the
State Government. It is not necessary that a co-opted member shall be a member
of the General Body of the Co-operative Society: Provided
that the number of such co-opted members shall not exceed two in addition to
the number of members specified in sub-section (5): Provided
further that such a co-opted member shall not have the right to vote in any
election or in any no confidence motion moved in the Co-operative Society in
their capacity as such member or to be eligible to be elected as office bearers
of the Committee of Management. (7) ??The
Committee of Management of every co-operative society may fill a casual vacancy
on the Committee of Management by nomination out of the same class of members
in respect of which the casual vacancy has arisen, if the term of the office of
the Committee of Management is less than half of its original term.". In
Section 35 of the principal Act,-- (a) for sub-section (1) the following sub-section shall
be substituted, namely-- "(1)
Where in the opinion of the Registrar the Committee of Management of any
Co-operative Society persistently makes default or is negligent in the performance
of the duties imposed on it by this Act or the rules or the bye-laws of the
society or commits any act which is prejudicial to the interest of the society
or its members, has failed to conduct the election in accordance with the
provisions of this Act before the expiry of the term of the Committee of
Management or is otherwise not functioning properly, the Registrar after
affording the Committee of Management a reasonable opportunity of being heard
and obtaining the opinion of the General Body of the society in a general
meeting called for the purpose in the manner prescribed may, by order in
writing, supersede the Committee of Management: Provided
that where under the prescribed circumstances it is not feasible to convene a
general meeting of the General Body of the society, the Registrar may dispense
with the requirement of obtaining the opinion of the General Body of the
society: Provided
further that in the case of Central Co-operative Bank or the Uttar Pradesh
Co-operative bank, the suspension or supersession of the Committee of
Management shall not be made by the Registrar unless the Reserve Bank of India
has been consulted: Provided
also that the Committee of Management of the Primary Agriculture Co-operative
Credit Society may be superseded by the Registrar only on any of the following
grounds-- (i) If a society incurs losses for three consecutive
years, or (ii) If serious financial irregularities or fraud have
been committed, (iii) If there are judicial directives to this effect or
there is perpetual lack of the quorum: Provided
also that the Committee of Management of any such co-operative society shall
not be superseded or kept under suspension by the Registrar, where there is no
Government shareholding or loan or financial assistance or any guarantee by the
Government." (b) in sub-section (2) after the existing proviso the
following provisos shall be inserted, namely-- "Provided
further that the proceeding under sub-section (1) shall be completed within one
year with respect to a society carrying on the business of banking and within
six months with respect to a society carrying on business other than banking
and if it is not completed within stipulated period, the proceeding initiated
under sub-section (1) shall be deemed to have dropped and the Committee of
Management, if under suspension, shall stand reinstated." In
Section 64 of the principal Act,-- (a) in sub-section (1) for the words "at least
once in each co-operative year" the words "within six months of the close
of the financial year to which such accounts relate" shall be substituted; (b) after sub-section (5) the following sub-section
shall be inserted, namely-- "(6)
The audit report of accounts of every Apex Co-operative Society shall be laid
before the State Legislature." After
Section 112 of the principal Act, the following section shall be inserted,
namely-- "113.
Filling of Returns.-- (1) Every Co-operative society shall file returns
within six months of the close of every financial year to the Registrar or any
officer authorized by him including the following matters, namely? (a) annual report of its activities; (b) its audited statement of accounts; (c) the plan of disposal of surplus, as approved by the
General Body of the Co-operative Society; (d) list of amendments to the bye-laws of the
Co-operative Society, if any, (e) declaration regarding date of holding of its
General Body meeting and conduct the election when due, and (f) any other information as required by the Registrar. (2)
Every
co-operative society shall be covered by the Right to Information Act,
2005." [1] Received the assent of the Governor on
March 28, 2013 and published in the U.P. Gazette, Extra., Part 1, Section (Ka),
dated 28th March, 2013, pp. 5-8
Preamble - THE UTTAR PRADESH
CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2013PREAMBLE