HC upholds cooperative society member’s disqualification for having more than 2 kids

Cuttack: ‘Population explosion is more dangerous than a hydrogen bomb’, a two-judge bench of Orissa high court stated recently, while quoting British philosopher and Nobel laureate Bertrand Russell, as it upheld the disqualification of a management committee member of a Bhubaneswar-based housing cooperative society for having more than two children.A division bench of Justices Krishna S Dixit and Chittaranjan Dash on June 30 dismissed an intra-court appeal filed by Biswaranjan Mohanty, challenging an HC judge’s Jan 8, 2025, order that had refused to quash a notice issued by the deputy registrar of the cooperative society on Nov 19, 2024.The notice had disqualified Mohanty from the membership of Capital Cooperative Housing Ltd under Section 28(3)(p) of the Orissa Cooperative Societies Act, 1962, after finding that he has fathered three children.According to Section 28(3)(p) of the Act, a member, president or vice-president of a cooperative society’s committee can be disqualified if he/she has more than two children.Holding that the provision of two-child norm in cooperative societies serves the larger public interest of population control and is enforceable by the registrar of cooperative societies, the division bench stated the statutory disqualification operates automatically once the prescribed condition is established.

“This disqualification is by operation of law. However, the registrar of societies has to hold a due inquiry as to foundational facts, with the participation of the stakeholders by recording a finding that the person concerned has more than two children,” the judges observed.The court underscored the objective behind the provision by referring to the growing challenge of population explosion. “Unchecked population growth places enormous pressure on environmental, economic and social resources,” the bench added.The judges also referred to the 42nd Constitutional Amendment, which inserted “Population Control and Family Planning” into the Concurrent List, enabling both Parliament and state legislatures to frame laws on the subject. They described Section 28(3)(p) of the Orissa Cooperative Societies Act as “a positive measure to check the population growth.”Rejecting Mohanty’s contention that the Act does not explicitly identify the authority competent to enforce the provision, the bench ruled that such power necessarily vests in the registrar of cooperative societies. It noted that the deputy registrar was authorised to exercise the registrar’s powers under Section 3 of the Act.Holding that the challenge lacked merit, the division bench dismissed the appeal and upheld the earlier order sustaining Mohanty’s disqualification from the cooperative society.