In setback to Keralam govt, HC reinstates Milma Thiruvananthapuram union dissolved over Sabarimala ghee row

Court has directed that the reinstated managing committee replace the Administrator appointed in its stead

In a setback to the Keralam government, the High Court has directed the reinstatement of members of the dissolved managing committee of the Thiruvananthapuram Regional Co-operative Milk Producers Union, who were allegedly disbanded without notice over the Sabarimala-Milma ghee misappropriation allegations.

A Single Bench had earlier upheld the decision by the Registrar of Co-operative Societies to dissolve the managing committee of the Thiruvananthapuram Regional Co-operative Milk Producers Union, including four districts, Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha.

The Division Bench of Justices A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and A.K. Preetha quashed the Registrar’s order. It also set aside the Single Bench order, which found that the Registrar had sufficient material to substantiate allegations of misappropriation in the supply of ghee to Sabarimala Sannidhanam. The court directed that the reinstated managing committee replace the Administrator appointed in its stead.

The Division Bench found that the Registrar had relied on a report and recommendations made by the Joint Director (General), Directorate of Dairy Development, to supersede the union’s managing committee.

It held that the Joint Director had accessed sufficient material to infer material relating to the allegations against the managing committee members. This meant the members had fully cooperated with the inquiry and there was no question of evidence tampering or suppression, as alleged by the State government. The Division Bench observed that any action by a statutory authority unsupported by required rationale would cast doubt on the good faith of the authority concerned.

The Division Bench observed that the Registrar’s order superseding the committee under the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act, 1969 was passed without consultation with the State Co-operative Union as well. The Registrar had reasoned that issuing a show-cause notice was not practical considering the severity of the allegations.

The members of the dissolved managing committee, through lawyers Ranjith Thampan and P.C. Sasidharan, had argued before the Single Bench that the Registrar had no material to initiate proceedings to supersede the democratically elected committee. They also contended that the order did not follow fair procedure and that dispensing without issuing a show-cause notice was permitted only in exceptional circumstances.