Page No.# 1/8 GAHC010215092026 2026:GAU-AS:14443 THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH) Case No. : WP(C)/5324/2026 BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF HALAKURA SS LTD REPRESENTED BY ITS CHAIRMAN, ALTAF HOSSAIN MANDAL,AGE -41 YEARS, S/O-LT- AMIR HOSSAIN MANDAL, VILL- SONAKHULI PT-I, P.O.MAHAMAYAHAT, DIST- DHUBRI ASSAM, VERSUS THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 6 ORS REPRESENTED BY THE ADDITIONAL CHIEF SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNMENT OF ASSAM, COPERATION DEPARTMENT, DISPUR,GUWAHATI-6 2:THE REGISTRAR OF CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES ASSAM KHANAPARA GUWAHATI-22 3:THE ADDITIONAL REGISTRAR OF COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES BTC KOKRAJHAR P.O. AND DISTRICT- KOKRAJHAR ASSAM PIN-783370 4:THE DISTRICT DEPUTY REGISTRAR OF COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES DHUBRI P.O.AND DISTRICT- DHUBRI ASSAM PIN 783301 Page No.# 2/8 5:THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER DHUBRI P.O. AND DISTRICT- DHUBRI ASSAM PIN-783301 6:ASSTT REGISTRAR OF COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES DHUBRI P.O. AND DISTRICTDHUBRI ASSAM PIN-783301 7:PRAMESH DEKA SI IC HALAKURAPOLICE CHECK POST P.O.-MAHAMAYAHAT DISTRICT- DHUBRI ASSAM PIN-78333 B E F O R E HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE DEVASHIS BARUAH Advocates for the petitioner(s) : Mr. SK Das Advocates for the respondent(s) : Mr. SK Talukdar Standing Counsel Cooperation Department, Govt. of Assam Mr. SS Roy Govt. Advocate, Assam Date on which Judgment is reserved: NA Page No.# 3/8 Date of Pronouncement of Judgment : 28.09.2026 Whether the Pronouncement is of the : Yes Operative Part of the Judgment Whether the Full Judgment has been : No Pronounced JUDGMENT & ORDER(ORAL) Heard Mr. SK Das, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Petitioner. Also heard Mr. SK Talukdar, the learned Standing Counsel, Cooperation Department who appears on behalf of the Respondent Nos.1 to 4 and 6 and Mr. S. S. Roy, the learned Government Advocate who appears on behalf of the Respondent No.5. 2. For the purpose of the instant case, the presence of Respondent No.7 is not required and accordingly, the name of Respondent No.7 is struck off. 3. The learned counsel for the Petitioner is directed to file a fresh memo of parties before the Registry of this Court by tomorrow and the Registry shall on the basis of the instant order as well as the fresh memo of parties make necessary corrections in the cause-title of the writ petition and update the same in the CIS. Page No.# 4/8 4. A Cooperative society in the name and style of "Halakura SS Limited" is registered under the provisions of the Assam Cooperative Societies Act, 2007. In the last AGM/Elections held on 20.07.2023, the Board of Directors of the said Society were elected. In terms with Section 42 of the Assam Cooperative Societies Act, 2007 (for short, ‘the Act of 2007’ ), the tenure of the said Board of Directors is 5(five) years. It is the requirement of Section 39 of the Act of 2007 that the Annual General Meeting of the Cooperative Society should be held at least once in every cooperative year within a period of 6(six) months from the close of the financial year to transact the business as provided in the Act of 2007. It is also a legislative mandate that if the Annual General Meeting is not held within 6(six) months of the expiry of every financial year, the Board of Directors shall automatically stand dissolved. 5. In the backdrop of the above, for the AGM to be held for the financial year 2025–26, a notice was issued on 28.08.2026. The said notice was issued pursuant to the appointment of Observers by the Registrar of Cooperative Societies. The AGM was supposed to be held on 13.09.2026. However, on 13.09.2026, the AGM for the financial year 2025–26 was adjourned, and a notice was issued on 16.09.2026, whereby the adjourned AGM was announced to be held on Page No.# 5/8 20.09.2026 at 11:00 AM at Halakura Higher Secondary School. 6. It is the case of the Petitioner that the proceedings of the AGM started at around 11-11:15 AM on 20.09.2026 in the presence of the Departmental Officer/Observer without any disturbance. The Petitioner Society is comprised of around 4,000 shareholders, out of which 605 shareholders were present. However, while half of the agenda of the AGM was completed, the Sub-Inspector and the In- Charge of Halakura Police Check Post arrived at the venue at around 12:20 PM, took the Chairman to the Halakura Police Check Post and detained him till 5:30 PM. 7. It is the further case of the Petitioner that on account of the programme of the Chief Minister, there was a verbal direction by the police official to postpone the said AGM, but no written order was shown. In view of the above, the Chairman of the Petitioner Society submitted a representation on 24.09.2026 requesting the Respondent No. 2 to fix another date for holding the AGM, which abruptly stood interrupted in view of the actions of the In-Charge of Halakura Police Outpost. However, as no steps in that regard were taken by the Respondent No. 2 and there is an imminent danger of the Board of Directors being dissolved in view of Section 39 of the Act of 2007, the Petitioner Society have approached this Court by filing the present Page No.# 6/8 writ petition. 8. This Court has heard the learned counsels appearing on behalf of the parties and has also perused the materials on record, as well as the copy of the minutes of the meeting of the AGM held on 20.09.2026 placed by the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Petitioner. The minutes of the meeting is kept on record and marked with the letter 'X'. 9. This Court has also taken note of Sections 39, 40, and 42 of the Act of 2007. It is the opinion of this Court that if, on account of the interference caused by the In-Charge of the Halakura Police Check Post, the AGM could not be proceeded with, a democratically elected Board of Directors would not only be dissolved, but the Directors would face disqualifications to even contest in subsequent Elections. It is the opinion of this Court, therefore, that if there is truth in the allegations made in the writ petition, the State Government should look into the same. 10. This Court also takes note of Section 130A of the Act of 2007 which permits the Government to grant an extension for holding the meeting under exceptional circumstances. The question arises as to whether the present case would come within the ambit of exceptional Page No.# 7/8 circumstances. In the opinion of this Court, the said aspect should be decided by the State Government, more particularly, when allegations are made that on account of the Chief Minister’s programme, the Petitioner was not able to conduct the AGM. 11. Considering the above, this Court disposes of the instant writ petition with the following observations and directions: (a). The Petitioner herein is granted liberty to submit a representation to the Secretary to the Government of Assam, Cooperation Department, within 05.10.2026, justifying the reasons which, as per the Petitioner, would come within the ambit of exceptional circumstances for exercise of jurisdiction under Section 130A of the Act of 2007. Along with the said representation, a copy of the present judgment and order shall also be enclosed. (b). The Secretary, Cooperation Department is directed to consider the said representation along with the report of the Observers who were present in the AGM held on 20.09.2026, and thereupon decide as to whether factual situation gives rise to a case to fall within the purview of exceptional circumstances to grant an extension so that the Petitioner can hold the AGM for the financial year 2025–26. (c). This Court further directs that till such consideration is carried out, the operation of automatic dissolution of the Board of Directors in Page No.# 8/8 terms of Section 39 of the Act of 2007 shall not apply. (d). It is further observed that if the representation is not submitted on or before 05.10.2026, the legislative mandate as contained in Section 39 of the Act of 2007 shall come into play. 12. The above directions are in the peculiar facts of the present case and as such the same would not be treated as a precedent. JUDGE Comparing Assistant