In Brief
The Supreme Court addressed proceedings against Vipulbhai Chaudhary, former Chairman of a dairy cooperative union, initiated under the Gujarat Co-operative Societies Act. The core issues were whether a combined show-cause notice under Sections 76B(1) and (2) was lawful, whether fresh proceedings could be initiated after earlier disqualification orders were set aside, and whether the enhanced six-year disqualification period applied retroactively. The Court held that combined notices are permissible, fresh proceedings may proceed after procedural defects are cured, and individual officers may be proceeded against discretionarily. However, the six-year disqualification period introduced in 2015 could not apply retrospectively; hence maximum disqualification was limited to four years. The appeals partly succeeded and failed accordingly.
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