Neeta Sawant 501-Writ Petition No.11815-2026.docx IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO. 11815 OF 2026 Mahesh Chaumal & Anr. ..Petitioners … : Versus : The State of Maharashtra, through the Secretary & Ors. .Respondents … Mr. Karl Tamboly with Mr. Savish Shetye, Mr. Karan Singh, Mr. Krish Shah i b. Jenil N. Shah, / for the Petitioners. Mr. S.H. Kankal, AGP for State. CORAM : SANDEEP V. MARNE, J. DATED : 3 SEPTEMBER 2026. P.C : 1) The petition challenges order dated 31 August 2026 passed by the Deputy Registrar appointing Authorised Officer over the Society under the provisions of Section 77A of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 (the Act). 2) There is an alternate remedy of filing Revision against the impugned order before the Divisional Joint Registrar against the order dated 31 August 2026. However, the present petition is filed expressing an apprehension that the Authorised Officer would take over the charge of the society. My attention is invited to the letter of the bank of the Petitioner-society freezing the accounts of the Society based on impugned order dated 31 August 2026. _____________________________________________________________________________ PAGE NOS. 1 of 2 Thursday, 3 September 2026 Neeta Sawant 501-Writ Petition No.11815-2026.docx 3) Prima-facie, it appears that for 123 members, the strength of Managing Committee is 13 out of which 3 posts are for reserved category. Since 3 reserved category members are not elected on the Committee, under the provisions of Section 154-B(22) of the Act they cannot be computed for the purpose of determining the quorum. Thus, for the strength of Managing Committee of 10 members, the requisite quorum would be 6.66 which can be rounded off to 7. It appears that there were 7 members on the Managing Committee who co-opted the eighth member in December 2025. However, subsequently in February 2026, the Chairman came to be disqualified. Thus, the Managing Committee still has 7 members to fulfill the requisite quorum. 4) Since there is an alternate remedy of filing Appeal against the order, I am not inclined to entertain the petition. The Writ Petition is accordingly disposed of granting liberty to the Petitioner to file Appeal against the order dated 31 August 2026 before the Divisional Joint Registrar. In order to enable the Petitioner to seek interim relief before the Divisional Joint Registrar, the impugned order dated 31 August 2026 shall not be implemented till the disposal of the application for stay. The Divisional Joint Registrar shall make an endeavour to decide the application for stay within a period of 6 weeks. All contentions of the parties are left open. 5) Since the impugned order is being stayed, the freeze imposed on Society s bank Account shall be lifted forthwith. Needless to observe ’ that the Appeal shall be decided without being influenced by observations made in the order. The Writ Petition is accordingly disposed of. [SANDEEP V. MARNE, J.] _____________________________________________________________________________ PAGE NOS. 2 of 2 Thursday, 3 September 2026 NEETA SHAILESH SAWANT Digitally signed by NEETA SHAILESH SAWANT Date: 2026.09.03 20:41:13 +0530