Jubilee Hills Society Row: HC Directs Registrar To Review Pleas

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has directed the registrar-cum-commissioner of cooperative societies to consider the representations made by several members of the Jubilee Hills Cooperative House Building Society Ltd who had been excluded from the voter list.

Justice Laxmi Narayana Alishetty granted liberty to the petitioner-members of the society to submit a representation to the registrar of the cooperative societies for inclusion in the voter list. The registrar was directed to consider the same and pass orders in accordance with the Telangana Co-operative Societies Act, 1964 and Rules as well as bylaws of the Jubilee Hills Cooperative House Building Society.

The judge was dealing with two petitions filed by a few of the disqualified members. They submitted that 887 members, including the petitioners, were disqualified and removed from the society members’ voter list only on the ground that they failed to submit their KYC (know your customer) documents.

Raja Sripathi Rao and A. Venkatesh, senior counsels appearing for the petitioners, submitted that neither the Act nor the bylaws of the society prescribed disqualification for failure to furnish KYC papers. R. Hemendranath Reddy, senior counsel, representing the society, submitted that due notice was issued and procedure was followed. He contended that an alternative remedy under Section 76 of the Act before the Co-operative Tribunal was available and that the writ petitions were not maintainable. He expressed no objection to granting liberty to the petitioners to approach the registrar.