Gujarat HC takes tough stand against Gujarat Minister for overreaching judicial process

Surat (Gujarat) : The Gujarat High Court has taken a firm stance against Mukesh Patel, the former Minister of State for Agriculture, Energy, and Petrochemicals, for recommending to the Surat District Registrar the appointment of 13 members of the Purshottam Farmers Cooperative Society in Surat. The HC bench stated that the State Government had overreached the judicial process because the court had already ordered that the status quo be maintained in the matter.

Purshottam Farmers’ attorney, AJ Yagnik, argued that the State Government invoked the provisions of Section 161 of the Gujarat Cooperative Societies Act, 1961, and issued a notification on August 23, 2022, stating that the provisions of Section 81 of the Act would not be applied from August 3, 2018 to March 3, 2023.

On August 6, 2022, the district registrar issued an order appointing 13 members to the Purshottam Farmers Administrative Committee based on the recommendations letter issued by former Minister of State for Agriculture, Energy, and Petrochemicals Mukesh Patel.

The impugned notification issued on August 23, 2022, as well as the order issued by the district registrar on August 6, 2022, were stayed by Justice Bhargav D Karia until the next date of hearing on February 14, 2022.