In Brief
This case concerns the election to Thiruvalla East Cooperative Bank Ltd. The High Court had permitted elections to proceed with 611 eligible voters under an interim order, but then relegated the matter to an election dispute under Section 69 of the Kerala Cooperative Societies Act while extending the time period. The Supreme Court held that once a Statute prescribes a fixed time schedule for election petitions, courts cannot extend that period absent statutory authority. The Court set aside the High Court's judgment and remitted the case for fresh consideration on merits, finding the electoral officer had misconstrued Section 16A(1)(b) in drastically reducing the voter list from 611 to 28 members.
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