Staff Reporter
Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court has directed the Government of Assam to file a detailed affidavit regarding the constitution of the Board of Directors of the Assam Cooperative Apex Bank Ltd on or before November 6, 2026.
A bench of Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar and Justice Kaushik Goswami issued the directive in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by shareholders/members of the Assam Co-operative Apex Bank Ltd that seven directors of the bank have exceeded the statutory period of continuous tenure.
On behalf of the petitioners, senior advocate KN Choudhury submitted before the court that the Assam Co-operative Apex Bank Ltd is a Scheduled State Co-operative Bank with many zonal offices across the state and is governed by the Assam Cooperative Societies Act, 2007 as also its own by-laws, Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and related circulars.
He said the bank is managed by a board of directors of 15 members, of whom 11 are elected by an electoral college of members for a five-year term.
According to the PIL, four members had served as directors continuously from 2011 to 2016, whereafter they were re-elected for 2016-2021 term and again for the term beginning in 2021 and ending in 2026, which makes a third consecutive five-year term.
On the other hand, three members joined the bank for the term 2016-2021 and then continued from 2021 to 2026, i.e., for consecutive two terms.
The Reserve Bank India (Rural Co-operative Banks-Governance) Amendment Directions, 2026 clearly stipulate that after two consecutive terms of an office bearer, there has to be a mandatory three-year cooling-off period for again taking up any assignment.
Thus, according to the petition, four directors have already crossed the 10 years limit by 2021 board elections, while three would not in ordinary course be permitted to participate in the next/forthcoming elections.
The petition expressed concern that the Reserve Bank of India and the state co-operation department have failed to enforce these time-limits, allowing the directors/private respondents to treat the board as their pocket-borough/fiefdom.
The PIL attributed this to the political prominence of some of them.
On behalf of the Assam government, senior advocate and additional advocate general PN Goswami assured the high court that the rules shall be followed to the letter and spirit in the next elections scheduled on October 30.
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