IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH AT SHIMLA CWP No.15858 of 2025 Decided on 08th October, 2025 Anubhav Gautam and others …Petitioners Versus State of Himachal Pradesh and others …Respondents Coram Hon’ble Mr. Justice Ajay Mohan Goel, Judge 1Whether approved for reporting? For the petitioners : Mr. Rajiv Rai, Advocate. For the respondents : Mr. Pushpinder Jaswal, Additional Advocate General. Mr. Parva Sharma and Rupesh Kumar, Advocate, for the Caveator. Ajay Mohan Goel, Judge (Oral) CVT No.579 of 2025 Caveat heard and discharged. CWP No.15858 of 2025 By way of this petition, the petitioners have prayed for the following relief:- “That this Hon’ble Court may kindly be pleased to issue an appropriate writ whereby the impugned order dated 03.10.2025 vide Annexure P/1 may kindly be quashed being arbitrary, illegal and without jurisdiction” 2. The petitioners are aggrieved by the order that has been passed by Assistant Registrar, Cooperative Societies, who 2 has set at naught the election process initiated for the election of the Managing Committee i.e., respondent No.6. This Court is of the considered view that in light of the provisions of Section 94 of the Himachal Pradesh Cooperative Societies Act, the petitioners cannot directly approach this Court and have to exhaust the statutory remedies first. Learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that in terms of the order passed by the Assistant Registrar, the needful has been done by him in lieu of certain instructions/orders passed by Registrar, Cooperative Societies dated 27.09.2025 and, therefore, they cannot approach the Registrar against the order passed by the Assistant Registrar. Learned counsel has also referred to the judgment of the Hon’ble Division Bench in CWP No.1576 of 2022, titled Sh. Balak Ram Sharma versus Sh. Ram Krishan and others and has submitted that in light of this judgment, the petitioner is precluded from filing a revision petition as Hon’ble Division Bench has been pleased to hold that the power of revision can only be invoked suo motu by the State Government. This Court is of the considered view that if the order passed by the Assistant Registrar if based on certain directions or order passed by the Registrar, then, the petitioners 3 can always invoke the power of revision of the State Government which is conferred under Section 94(1) of the Himachal Pradesh Cooperative Societies Act, 1968. The judgment of the Hon’ble Division Bench, in the considered view of this Court does not come in the way of the petitioners, because what the Hon’ble Division Bench has been pleased to hold is that after a private party exhausts the right of appeal, then, it cannot thereafter invoke the power of revision. Herein, as the petitioners have not assailed the impugned order by way of an appeal, therefore, they can always file a revision against the order before the State Government. 3. The petition is accordingly disposed of, with liberty to the petitioners to invoke the revisional power. This Court hopes and expects that in case any revision is filed by the petitioners, then, taking into consideration the dispute involved in the present proceedings, the Secretary concerned shall dispose of the same expeditiously. Pending miscellaneous applications, if any, also stand disposed of. (Ajay Mohan Goel) Judge October 08, 2025 (Vinod)