How can a resident of a CHS ascertain that he is a member of the society and all his joint holders’ details are correctly recorded in the books, and whether there is any mandatory requirement of reporting the said membership to the registrar?
Sudheer Joshi, Vile Parle
Every housing society is required to maintain a register of members in the format prescribed in ‘Form I’ and enter the details like names, address and occupation, shares held, the date on which each person was admitted, the date on which any person ceased to be a member, etc. Transfer of shares in the event of death of a member to any person shall also be recorded along with the details of documents received. The register shall be the prima facie evidence of the date on which any person was admitted to membership and ceased to be a member.
Similarly, a register of shares has to be maintained by the society recording the details of shares issued to the members and date of share transfer details, etc. Every member of the society is entitled to inspect the documents free of cost at the society’s office during office hours or any time fixed by the society.
You may obtain a copy of the register of members by making a written application and paying the requisite fee to the society. The society is bound to give you copies of documents requested in writing. Further, every society has to submit an audit report for each financial year to the registrar, which includes the status of registers maintained by the society including ‘Form I’ and ‘Form J’, which provides for the details of the members and active members respectively.
Can an administrator be appointed after the date of election has been announced by the society?
Santosh Nair, Bhandup
Each society has to follow the process of election well in advance before the expiry of the term of the existing committee. The process of election is governed by the MCS (Election to Cooperative Societies) Rules, 2014. Depending upon the total number of members in the society the society / state cooperative election authority has to appoint a returning officer who will comply with the formalities in this regard. The returning officer will make a schedule of the election. In case you have followed the process of election as per the election rules, committee or authorised officer (administrator) cannot be appointed by the registrar even on the complaint filed by any member of the society against members of the existing managing committee (MC).
Further, appointment of committee / authorised officer is done by the registrar in situations mentioned in Section 77A like the managing committee has failed to make necessary arrangements for holding election or any committee is prevented from entering upon the office, or where more than one group of persons in a society is claiming to be elected as a committee members and proceedings in that respect have been filed in the cooperative court, or upon any application of any officer or member of the society has been made to the registrar to appoint a committee or authorised officer, etc. If the returning officer is appointed, the process has been completed, date of election is notified, list of voters and candidates has been finalized by the returning officer after due scrutiny the society is following the process of election. Thus the question of appointing a committee or authorised officer after notifying the date of election should not arise.
The questions are answered by Sharmila Ranade, a legal expert associated with Mumbai Grahak Panchayat. The questions, in brief, may be sent to fpjchs@gmail.com
