The Maharashtra government on Saturday has yet again postponed the elections of almost 65,000 cooperative housing societies (CHS) till March 31, 2021 citing coronavirus pandemic still exists and the safety protocol will have to be strictly followed.
The government in a notification clearly said the decision would be applicable to societies with less or more than 250 members.
Saturday’s government decision will not be applicable to those CHS where they have initiated the election process following the Supreme Court and High Court orders.
With the state government’s decision, the existing committees will continue to function till March 31 this year.
“The government has powers to defer elections of CHS for one year during natural calamities in larger public interest under Section 73 CC of the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1960. The government accordingly had deferred polls till June 17, 2020, later again till December 31, 2020. However, the time period for postponement ends on March 17 this year and therefore, the government has exercised its power under section 157 of the same Act to further defer the polls till March 31, 2021,’’ said Anil Chaudhari, desk officer of the department of cooperation, marketing and textile in the notification.
