Gokul Dairy No HC stay on nominated directors ordinance Oppn farmers take out cattle march

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar/Kolhapur, Nov 9 (PTI) The Bombay High Court on Monday refused to grant a stay on the Maharashtra government's ordinance conferring voting rights on four nominated directors of the Gokul Dairy board, even as Opposition leaders and dairy farmers staged a massive protest in Kolhapur alleging a "blatant assault on cooperative democracy."

Hearing a petition challenging the constitutional validity of the ordinance, the Aurangabad bench of the High Court ruled that four nominated directors will be permitted to participate and vote in the November 10 chairman election for the Kolhapur District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Ltd (Gokul Dairy), but directed that their votes be kept in a separate ballot box.

The bench of Justice Neeraj Dhote also ordered that the entire voting process scheduled for Tuesday be videographed and photographed while posting the matter for further hearing on November 25.

In the 25-member newly-elected board, the panel led by Congress MLC Satej Patil secured a narrow majority by winning 13 seats, pushing the Mahayuti-backed panel into the minority with 12 seats.

However, the state government passed an ordinance and nominated four additional directors with voting rights, a move that raised eyebrows among the Opposition political parties.

Despite fierce opposition to the retrospective application of the new ordinance, the government mandated that all 29 directors, including the four nominees, will be eligible to vote for the chairman election.

Petitioner advocate Srikrushna Ganbawle said that while the results will be announced, the final outcome will be subject to the ultimate ruling on the plea.

"If the nominated members vote, their ballots will be kept separately so they can be isolated when the petition is finally heard," Ganbawle said.

Meanwhile, streets in Kolhapur saw large-scale demonstrations as Opposition leaders and farmers marched to the district collectorate with their cattle to protest the state cabinet's decision.

The agitation was led jointly by NCP (SP) state president Jayant Patil, and Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana chief Raju Shetti.

Addressing the demonstrators, Satej Patil said the protest in Kolhapur had become an issue concerning the entire state.

He alleged that state ministers Hasan Mushrif and Chandrakant Patil were responsible for the decision to appoint four nominated directors, and accused them of conspiring to weaken democratic institutions and the cooperative sector.

Days after the October 19 election to the Gokul Dairy board, the state cabinet approved the appointment of five government-nominated members to the managing committees of cooperative institutions with an annual turnover of over Rs 500 crore, excluding district central cooperative banks. Four of the members will be entitled to vote in the board of directors.

Gokul Dairy's annual turnover is more than Rs 4,000 crore.

"I am fighting for the interests of 5.5 lakh farmers, while the ruling side is working to get its family members elected," Congress MLC Satej Patil said, adding that the seeds of a political change in Maharashtra for 2029 had been sown in Kolhapur.

Supporting the agitation, NCP (SP) state chief Jayant Patil claimed the government introduced a provision to grant voting rights to nominated expert directors specifically to overcome the majority secured by Satej Patil's panel.

"Whenever the ruling side falls short of a majority in a cooperative institution, they create a provision to appoint expert directors with voting rights. This sets a dangerous precedent for cooperative democracy," Jayant Patil said while demanding an immediate withdrawal of the decision.

Former MP and farmer leader Shetti emphasised that Gokul belongs to the dairy farmers of Kolhapur and not to any individual or political party.

He noted that while nominated directors traditionally provide technical and legal guidance, they have never been granted voting rights in cooperative institutions anywhere in the country.

Shetti further questioned the retrospective applicability of the ordinance, arguing that the election notification for the chairman's post had specified that the process would be conducted under existing laws.

"The ordinance was issued after the ruling side lost the election to manipulate the outcome," he alleged.

Extending support to the stir, NCP (SP) Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule, in a social media post, said the panel led by Satej Patil had registered a decisive victory, yet the state government was keen on taking control of the institution.

The NCP (SP) supports the people of Kolhapur and Gokul's milk-producing farmers in their fight for their legitimate rights, she said. PTI COR AW SP BNM ARU SKL RSY

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)