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BIHAR SELF-SUPPORTING CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2013
[Bihar Act 7,2013]
BIHAR SELF-SUPPORTING CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2013
An Act to amend the Bihar Self-Supporting Co-operative Societies Act, 1996
PREAMBLE.—
Whereas voluntarily constituted Co-operative Societies can lead to the socioeconomic betterment of their members as based on their economic participation, democratic control and autonomous functioning so as to act more meaningfully in the interests of their members;
AND, WHEREAS, it is an obligation of the State Government to promote voluntary formation, autonomous functioning, democratic control and professional management of the Co-operative Societies in the State and promote them and take such measures as are necessary for this purpose;
AND, WHEREAS, in pursuance of The Constitution (Ninety Seventh Amendment) Act,2011, many amendments are imperative in the Bihar Self-Supporting Co-operative Societies Act, 1996; to keep in consonance with above Amendment.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Bihar in the sixty fourth year of the Republic of India as follows: -
1. Short title, extent and commencement. –
(1) This Act may be called the Bihar Self-
Supporting Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Act, 2013.
(2) It shall extend to the whole of the State of Bihar.
(3) It shall come into force at once.
2. Amendment in Section-2 of the Bihar Act 2 of 1997.— In Section-2 of the Bihar Self-Supporting Co-operative Societies Act, 1996 (Bihar Act 2, 1997) (here in after referred to as the said Act) shall be amended as follows –
(i) Sub-section (b) shall be substituted by the following, namely -
“(b) ‘Board’ means Board of Directors or Governing Body or Managing Committee by whatever name it is designated to whom the management of the affairs of a Co-operative Society is entrusted.”
(ii) After sub-section (p) the following new sub-sections (q), (r), (s) and (t) shall be inserted namely -
“(q) ‘Apex Society’ means, a Co-operative Society whose area of operation covers the whole of the state of Bihar or any Co-operative Federation / Union having in its area of operation the whole of the State of Bihar and which has been declared as Apex Society by the Registrar of Co-operative Societies.”
“(r) ‘Functional Directors’ means Functional Executive Directors of the Society specified as per rules or Bye-laws of that Co-operative Society.”
“(s) “Backward Classes”– means and includes the list of Backward Classes of citizens specified in Annexure-2 of the Bihar Reservation of Vacancies in Posts and Services (for Scheduled Castes , Scheduled Tribes and other Backward Classes) Act, 1991 (Bihar Act No. 3, 1992), as amended from time to time;”
“(t) “Extremely Backward Classes”– means and includes the list of Backward Classes of citizens specified in Annexure-1 of the Bihar Reservation of Vacancies in Posts and Services (for Scheduled Castes , Scheduled Tribes and other Backward Classes) Act, 1991 (Bihar Act No. 3, 1992), as amended from time to time;”
3. Amendment in Section-23 of the Bihar Act 2 of 1997.— In Section-23 of the said Act shall be amended as follows, namely -
(a) Sub-section (7) shall be substituted by the following –
“(7) A person admitted as a member may exercise the rights of membership, including the right to vote, only after ensuring minimum attendance, as required in the meeting convened for the participation in management of the Society and availing of minimum requisite services of the Society as may be prescribed in the Bye-laws of the Society;
Provided that a person shall have been a member for at least one year before being eligible to exercise the right to vote;
Provided further that the above provision shall not apply to the promoter members in the first year of registration of a Co-operative Society.”
(b) After sub-section (7) the following new sub-sections (8), (9) and (10) shall be added, namely:–
“(8) Every Co-operative Society shall provide access to every member to the books, information and accounts of the Co-operative Society kept in regular transaction of its business with such member.
(9) Every member of a Co-operative Society shall have the right to get all information/documents regarding books, information and accounts of the Co-operative Society kept in regular transaction of its business. The Chief Executive officer/manager of the Co-operative Society shall ensure access to the member to all required information/documents.
(10) The members of any Co-operative Society shall have the right to get member education and co-operative related training as per the rules or Bye-laws made under any provisions of this Act.”
4. Amendment in Section - 25 of the Bihar Act 2 of 1997.— In Section - 25 of the said Act shall be amended as follows, namely –
(a) Sub-section (1) shall be substituted by the following, namely –
“(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act and the Bye-laws the ultimate authority of a Co-operative Society shall vest in its General Body. Board of every Cooperative Society shall convene Annual General Meeting within six months from the closer of each financial year, which shall deal with all or any matter dealt with under sub-section (3) except those in relation to the election of members and Office-bearer of the Board.”
(b) Sub-section (3) clause (a) and (b) shall be deleted.
5. Amendment in Section - 26 of the Bihar Act 2 of 1997. — Sub-section (2) of Section – 26 of the said Act shall be substituted by the following, namely -
“(2) The size of the Board shall be maximum twenty one members including Office-bearers accordance with the Bye-laws. Chief Executive shall be an ex-officio member of the Board. The Board shall co-opt such persons having experience in the field of banking, management, finance or specialization in any other field relating to the object and the activities under taken by the Co-operative Societies, as members of the board;
Provided that the number of such co-opted members shall not exceed two and this shall be in addition to the total members of the board:
Provided further that such co-opted members shall not have the right to vote in any election of the Co-operative Society in their capacity as such member or to be eligible to be elected as Office-bearers of the Board:
Provided further also that the Functional Directors of a Co-operative Society shall also be the members of the board and such members shall be excluded for the purpose of counting the total number of Directors:
“Provided that there shall be reservation of two seats for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes, two seats for the Backward Classes and two seats for the Extremely Backward Classes on the Board of every Co-operative Society:
Provided further that for the purpose of reservation of seats as in the above proviso, the State Government may, by general or special order, exclude the Board of societies or class of societies not consisting of individuals as members or not having members from above categories of reservation:
Provided further that the total number of seats so reserved shall not exceed fifty percent of the total number of seats:
Provided further also that as nearly as but not exceeding fifty percent of the total number of seats so reserved shall be reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes, the Backward Classes and the Extremely Backward Classes, as the case may be:
Provided further also that as nearly as but not exceeding fifty percent of the total number of seats not reserved above for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes, the Backward Classes and the Extremely Backward Classes shall be reserved for women:
Provided further also that the total number of seats so reserved for women shall not be less than two.
The seats so reserved shall be filled up from amongst the members of Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes, Backward and Extremely Backward Classes and women either by election or/and by co-option. This provision shall apply to all societies from the Primary Society and up to the Apex Societies:
Provided further also that such reservation in Primary Society and up to the Apex Society shall be governed by the rules made under this Act for this purpose.”
6. Sub-section of Section - 28 of the Bihar Act 2 of 1997. — Section - 28 of the said Act shall be substituted by the following, namely -
“28. Term of office. - The term of office of elected members of the Board and its Office-bearers shall be five years from the date of election and the term of office of the Office-bearers shall be co-terminus with the term of the Board;
Provided that the Board may fill a casual vacancy in the Board by nomination out of the same class of members in respect of which the casual vacancy has arisen, if the term of the board is less than half of its original term;
Provided further also that if more than half of the term of original term of elected Board remains and any post of elected members and Office-bearers becomes vacant, the vacancy will filled by By-election by The Bihar State Election Authority for the remaining period;
Provided further that the term of the first Board shall not exceed twelve months from the date of registration of the Co-operative Society.”
7. Amendment in Section - 29 of the Bihar Act 2 of 1997. — In Section - 29 of the said Act shall be amended as follows, namely –
(a) Sub-section (1) shall be substituted by the following, namely –
“(1) The Bihar State Election Authority constituted shall be responsible for the conduct of elections of the board of a Co-operative Society under The Bihar State Election Authority Act, 2008.
(b) Sub-section (2) shall be substituted by the following, namely –
“(2) The election shall be conducted before the expiry of term of the outgoing director by the Bihar State Election Authority in the manner specified under the provisions of the Bihar State Election Authority Act, 2008 and Rules made there under and as per the provisions of the Bihar Self-Supporting Cooperative Societies Act, 1996 and Rules made there under.”
(c) Sub-section (3) shall be deleted.
8. Amendment in Section - 33 of the Bihar Act 2 of 1997.— In the said Act Section-33 shall be amended as follows, namely –
(a) Sub-section (1) shall be substituted by the following, namely –
“(1) A Co-operative Society shall get its accounts audited by Auditor from a Panel approved by State Government or the authority authorized by the State Government, at least once in every financial year. Such Auditor shall either be Chartered Accountants within the meaning of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 or from the office of the Registrar. The minimum educational qualification of the Auditors from a panel approved by State Government or an authority authorized by the State Government shall be Graduate (with Mathematics) or commerce Graduate from any approved university. Such Auditor or Chartered Accountants firm shall be required to have at least three years of audit experience. Only such Auditor or Chartered Accountants firm shall be eligible for the audit of the accounts of Co-operative Society.”
(b) Sub-section (4) shall be substituted by the following, namely –
“(4) The audit of the accounts of every Co-operative Society shall be done by the Auditor or Chartered Accountant firm in the manner specified under subsection (1), appointed by the General Body of Co-operative Society. The remuneration of the Auditor shall be fixed by the General Body;
Provided that if the audit is done by the Auditor from the office of the Registrar, Co-operative Societies shall pay the audit fee fixed by the Registrar.”
(c) After sub-section (10) the following new sub-section (11) shall be added, namely –
“(11) Apex Co-operative Society with the approval of General Body shall compulsorily submit the Audit Report, after the audit of the Statement of Accounts, to the Registrar within thirty days so that the report may be placed in the Legislature through State Government in accordance with the procedure laid down by the State Government for this purpose.”
9. Substitution of Section - 35 of the Bihar Act, 2 of 1997. — Section - 35 of the said Act shall be substituted by the following, namely -
“35. Filing Annual Statements of Accounts. –
Every Co-operative Society shall file Annual Statement of Accounts before the Registrar within six months of the end of financial year which shall include following subjects:
(a) Annual Report of the activity;
(b) Audited Statement of the Accounts;
(c) Plan to deal with the surplus as approved by General Body;
(d) List of the amendments done, if any, in the Bye-laws of the Co-operative Society;
(e) Declaration relating to the conduct of election, if due, and date for the arrangement of General Body meeting;
(f) Any other information notified by Registrar, if required to carry out any of the provisions of the Act.”
10. Insertion of a new Section - 41A after Section - 41 of the Bihar Act 2 of 1997. — In the said Act after Section - 41 the following new Section - 41A shall be inserted, namely –
“41A. Supersession of the Board by the Tribunal. –
(1) If in the opinion of the Tribunal, upon the receipt of application from the member of the Co-operative Society, the Board of any Co-operative Society, where loan or financial aid has been provided by the State Government or loan has been provided on Government guarantee, is persistently making defaults or is negligent in the performance of the duties imposed on it by this Act, the Rules or the Bye-laws, or conducted against the interest of its members or there is stalemate in the formation or functioning of the Board, he may, after giving opportunity to the managing committee to state its objection, if any, by order with reasons in writing supersede the Board of the Co-operative Society for a period not exceeding six months. The members of the Boards of societies so superseded shall not be eligible for reelection for five years from the date of supersession. Tribunal shall record every order passed under this section in writing and inform the concerned Co-operative Society through registered post;
Provided that in case of Co-operative Society carrying on the business of banking, provisions of Banking Regulation Act, 1949 shall also apply;
Provided further that in case of Co-operative Society carrying the business of banking, the maximum period of supersession shall be of one year;
Provided further also that the supersession of the Board of the Co-operative Society having banking operation shall be done in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India.
(2) When any Co-operative Society is under supersession under sub-section (1), the Tribunal shall appoint an Administrator to conduct the affairs of the Society. The Administrator appointed under this sub-section, shall take necessary action for the election of the Board of Co-operative Society within the specified period and shall hand over the management to elected Board.
(3) The Administrator appointed under sub-section (2) shall get remuneration, as may be fixed by the Tribunal, as he deems fit to carry on the business of the Cooperative Society. The remuneration so fixed shall be payable from the accounts of Co-operative Society.
(4) Administrator appointed under sub-section (2) shall work under the service condition laid down by the Tribunal and shall perform all the duties and carry on responsibilities assigned to the Board under this Act, rules and the Bye-laws of Society:
Provided that the Tribunal shall have the power to change the Administrator during the period of supersession.”
11. Substitution of Section - 42 of the Bihar Act 2 of 1997. — Sub-section (1) of Section –42 of the said Act shall be substituted by the following, namely:-
“ (1) It shall be an offence under this Act if-
(a) a Co-operative Society or an officer or member thereof willfully makes a false return or furnishes false information, or any person willfully not furnishes any information required from him by a person authorised in this behalf under the provisions of this Act;
(b) any person willfully or without any reasonable excuse disobeys any summons, requisition or lawful written order issued under the provisions of the this Act;
(c) any employer who, without sufficient cause, fails to pay to a Co-operative Society amount deducted by him from its employee within a period of fourteen days from the date on which such deduction is made;
(d) any officer or custodian who willfully fails to handover custody of books, accounts, documents, records, cash, security and other property belonging to a Co-operative Society of which he is an officer or custodian, to an authorized person; and
(e) any person indulges in the corrupt practices before, during or after the election of the Office-bearer or member of the Board of the Co-operative Society.”
