Special Story – Maharashtra Co-operative Housing Societies – Part-II

A. R. Jani, Advocate & Solicitor

Powers, Duties and Responsibilities of Ofice Bearers

1. In this article it is intended to study and discuss powers, duties and responsibilities of the Ofice Bearers in a Co-operative Housing Society. The scope of the article is therefore made limited to the subject and conined to the Ofice Bearers of a Housing Society only. The Article may be perused with these restrictions. For this purpose the readers may keep in view and refer the Model Bye-laws of September 2011 printed and published by the Mumbai District Co-operative Housing Limited, Mumbai – 400 001. 2. As it is well known now that the properties are by and large big in size and people purchase lats in high rise sky scrapper buildings and flats therein form a very small part in a large complex. It is not practical to manage such large complexes by individual lat purchasers and Co-operative Housing Societies are therefore formed under the provisions of The Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 (the said Act). It is the main Act which governs the istration of Housing Societies along with the other types of Co-operative Societies. The Act has been in existence since last more than 50 years. There is no separate or specific Act especially for Housing Societies. However, so far as Housing Societies are concerned, they are governed by the Rules framed under the provisions of the said Act and Bye-laws that may be framed by the of the would be Society under the said Act and Rules thereunder. SS-VII-37

Model of these Bye-laws are recommended by the Government. All Societies function under the said Bye-laws. 3. It can be stated that the General Body of the of the ed Housing Society are supreme in their functions and work subject to the provisions of law, rules and regulations as applicable to such Housing Society. of such Housing Society are the supreme authority. 4. A Society is as such, a legal entity, recognised as such and the word “limited” is added at the end of its name to indicate that the liabilities of are limited. It can sue and can be sued in its name. When a Society is formed, the property is transferred to the Society and the Society becomes the owner thereof. In fact, one of the main duties of the Ofice Bearers is to obtain Conveyance of property in Society’s favour. Usually a Housing Society has many tenements/ lats/ shops and other premises occupied by its and as such it is the Body vested with the legal and beneicial ownership. Since it is the responsibility of the Society and its , it is difficult for all of them to carry out management and istration of various acts required to be done by such Society, such as payment of municipal taxes, land revenue, taking out insurance, carrying out repairs, collecting outgoings, etc. The functions are many and

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Powers, Duties and Responsibilities of Ofice Bearers hence few are selected on Managing Committee to manage the various affairs of the Society. Therefore the Society appoints Managing Committee i.e. a small body of persons to manage the affairs of the Society. It is called the Managing Committee. The Managing Committee consists of few , but even then some individual have to be appointed as Ofice Bearers and assigned speciic works to be carried out by them and so the Office Bearers come into existence as a matter of necessity. 5. The Office Bearers of a Co-operative Housing Society are: (a)

Chairman

(b)

Secretary and

(c)

Treasurer

This is as per the provisions referred to in the Bye-Laws but some Societies also appoint a President, Vice Chairman or Vice President, t Secretary, Assistant Secretary, t Treasurer or Assistant Treasurer, etc., although there are no specific provisions for in the Act or Bye-Laws for appointing additional ofice bearers. If they are appointed they are supposed to be working with or under the principal office bearers i. e. the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer and they would be enjoying the same powers and having duties and responsibilities of the principal ofice bearers particularly in absence of the principal ofice bearers. Although no speciic provisions are made for such t or assistant ofice bearers but by usage and custom they have come to stay and are generally recognised. 6. It will be interesting to know who is an office bearer. The word “office bearer” is not used in the Bye-Laws but the word “oficer” is deined in section 2(20) of the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1960. It means a person elected or appointed by the Society to any ofice of such Society according to its’ Bye-Laws; and includes a Chairman, Vice Chairman, President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Member of the Committee and any other person elected or

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appointed under the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 (MCS Act) and the Rules or Bye-Laws framed under the said Act. They are the persons who give directions in regard to the business of the Society. The definition is very wide and inclusive. It may be noted that it also includes of Managing Committee (vide section 2 (20) of the said MCS Act). An Oficer therefore means and can be read as ofice bearer also. An office bearer is generally a person who has been given the post as a Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, etc. and he holds that post and does the work as provided under the ByeLaws. 7. The Chambers 20th Century Dictionary defines the term “office bearer” as one who holds the office or one who is appointed to perform duty in connection with the Society, company, church, etc. So it is not intended to give a restricted meaning to the word Office Bearer. Many a times the Managing Committee appoints Sub-Committees and Chairman and Secretary thereof and assigns them particular speciied works. Broadly speaking the Chairman, Secretary and of such Committees can also be called ofice bearers. When elections are to be held in the Society appointed on special duty can also be called the ofice bearers. 8. The powers, duties and obligations of the Chairman are to have an overall superintendence, control and guidance in respect of the management and the affairs of the Society within the framework of MCS Act 1960, MCS Rules 1961, Rules and Bye-Laws of the Society. The Chairman is competent to exercise any of the powers of the Managing Committee. However, while doing so he has to record the reasons thereof in writing. It will therefore be seen that overall powers given are exercised by the Chairman but the same will have to be ratified in the next meeting of the Managing Committee. It will thus be seen that when powers are given they are with the condition as provided in Bye-Law No. 140 to be ratiied in the next meeting of the Managing Committee.

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Special Story – Maharashtra Co-operative Housing Societies – Part-II 9. As stated above, there is no provision for appointing a President but if any such President is appointed he is appointed by the General Body Meeting and answerable to General Body Meeting. He can preside over the General Body or Extraordinary General Body Meeting of the Co-Operative Housing Society. This means that he will not be a part of the Managing Committee but he will represent the General Body in a general sense. It is therefore not advisable to

appoint a President (as some Societies do) as it will create confusion and problems about the powers and duties of such President. 10. The powers and duties and responsibilities of the Secretary are enumerated in Bye-Law No. 141. They are enumerated below for ready reference: 141. The functions of the Secretary of the Society are those as mentioned below:

Sr. no.

Items of the Functions

Bye-law no. under which if falls

(1)

(2)

(3)

1.

To issue share certiicate to within the stipulated period and the prescribed manner

9 and 10

2.

To deal with resignations from including associate and nominal

27 to 30

3.

To enter nominations and revocations thereof in the Nomination

33

4.

To inspect the property of the Society

5.

To issue notices regarding repairs to be carried out in lats

48(b)(c)

6.

To deal with cases of expulsion of

51 to 56

7.

To deal with cases of cessation of hip, including associate and nominal hip

61

8.

To deal with the applications for various purposes received by the Society

65

9.

To prepare and issue demand notices/bills for payment of the Society’s charges

70

10. To bring cases of defaults in payment of the Society’s charges to the notice of the Committee

71

11. To issue letter of allotment of lats 12. To issue notices and agenda of all meetings of the general body 13

To record the minutes of all the meetings of the general body

14. To call the irst meeting of the newly constituted committee

48(a)

76(a) 99 109 123(b)

15. To issue notices of all the meetings of the Committee

133

16

137

To attend meetings of the Committee and to record minutes thereof

17. To maintain books, and other records, unless otherwise decided by the committee. 18. To inalise of the Society in the required manner 19. To produce records of the Society before different authorities concerned with the working of the Society with the consent of the Chairman SS-VII-39

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Powers, Duties and Responsibilities of Ofice Bearers 20. To prepare the audit rectiication reports in respect of audit memos received from the Statutory and Internal Auditors

154

21

166

To bring breaches of the bye-laws by the of their notices under instructions from the committee

22. To discharge such other functions under the MCS Act, 1960, the MCS Rules 1961 and the Bye-laws of the Society and directions of the Committee and the general body meetings, as are not expressly mentioned hereinabove 23. To place the complaint application with facts, before the Committee, in the coming meeting

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It will thus be seen that he (Secretary) is virtually in the overall istration of the Society.

(iv)

To scrutinize all requirements of expenditure and recommend the same sanction.

11. The Model Bye-Laws of the Society has detailed the functions of the Chairman and the Secretary. However, it is silent with respect to the duties of the Treasurer who nevertheless occupies an important standing as an important Office Bearer. Naturally in most Societies the Treasurer devotes his time mostly ing functions. He is responsible for all moneys received and paid by the Society

(v)

To ensure that all entries in Petty Cash Book are checked thoroughly for correctness before signature and the items purchased have been taken on charge in the respective Stock Ledgers.

(vi)

To ensure cash balance is held beyond the limit ixed by the Managing Committee.

A Treasurer in the Society is an important ofice bearer. His general duties will be to maintain the s and ensure that monies received are entered in the books and deposited in the Bank and spend out of the said s monies required for day-to-day and routine expenses and such other expenses as may be sanctioned by the Managing Committee. The following may be ideally the duties of the Treasurer: (i)

To sign all receipts for cash and cheques received by The Society.

(ii)

To ensure that all Books and s are properly maintained.

(iii)

To operate the Bank of the Society tly with the Secretary and the Chairman.

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(vii) To ensure that all transactions are properly relected in General Ledger connected with . (viii) To see that Non-Expendable Items are taken on proper . (ix)

To report cases of Misappropriation of Funds of the Society immediately, on detection, to the Chairman or Secretary and the Managing Committee and further suggest and implement appropriate remedial measures for avoidance or recurrence ff the same.

(x)

To ensure that all vouchers, along with the bills relating thereto, are arranged in order ff entries in the Cash Book and the Journal.

(xi)

To ensure proper records of all Counterfoils, challans, bills Receipts and cheques are preserved.

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Special Story – Maharashtra Co-operative Housing Societies – Part-II (xii) Ensure that periodical Statements of s are prepared by the Society.

(xxiii) To assist Hon. Secretary during audit, internal / statutory.

(xiii) To put up Monthly Balance Sheet and Income and Expenditure Statement of the year before the Managing Committee, for approval.

(xxiv) To assist in preparation of Audit Rectiication Report in ‘O’ Form prescribed under Rule – 73 of the MSC Rules 1961.

(xiv) To check Monthly Bank Reconciliation Statements for correctness. (xv) To check Audit Reports and all auditable documents. (xvi) To ensure that personal Ledgers of all are properly maintained. (xvii) To initiate action for recovering outstanding liabilities of Sundry Debtors and Sundry Creditors. (xviii) To ensure the original FD documents are kept safe preferably in Bank Lockers 1ith a photocopy in ofice ile. Also submit same for renewal /encashment on maturity in time. (xix) To put up Monthly Statement for the perusal of Management Committee. (xx)

To supervise the ant employed for writing s.

(xxi) To ensure that the s are maintained as per statutory requirements including the ing software. (xxii) To see that Audit reports are received from Internal Auditors appointed in time with rectification reports thereon and they are placed before the Managing Committee.

(xxv) To ensure that all pay their dues in time and in case of default to take action to recover the same without delay. 12. Each ofice bearer is personally responsible for his own area of work and will be held responsible for dereliction of his duties and if he fails to carry out his functions. He is responsible to the Managing Committee as also to the General Body of . He is also personally liable for criminal acts like fraud, misappropriation, cheating and can be prosecuted. 13. The ofice bearers are at present working free of any fees or compensation. They are many a time do not get time to attend Society’s work because of their other activities. Since the Society does not get voluntarily to act as ofice bearers, it is suggested that they should be paid adequate compensation for attending meetings and carry out their works. This will induce them to come forward and increase their ability. 14. The subject is vast and books and books can be written thereon. In this short Article it is suficient if Readers are made aware and where to look for detailed knowledge. It will be a good habit for persons concerned to periodically browse through the present Bye-Laws of the Housing Society as they spell out in great details the working of a Society.

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