Kochi ; The High Court on Thursday gave its consent for elections at Kerala Bank to usher in its new Board. In the ruling, Justice Satish Nainan dismissed petitions submitted by pro-UDF members from cooperatives questioning the conduct of Board election and clarified that the four petitions opposing impending elections cannot be sustained legally.
In the hearing, court refuted the argument that in the abscence of RBI consent, the bank’s operations could not be considered functional. It also made record of the bank’s functional status. Further, the court refused to stall the elections on the premise offered by another petition that, the case against government ordinance for merging Malappuram co-op bank with Kerala Bank was still sub-judice. The court also clarified there was no lapse on part of Coop Banks Election Commission in having given the go-ahead signal for elections and clarified that notification for holding the elections may be published.
In the case, the court turned down the argument that there were irregularities in the proposed elections. It also rebutted claims that there were lapses in the voters’ list. Addl. Advocate General KK Raveendranath and Special Govt Pleader for Co-op Department KS Muhamad Hasheem appeared on behalf of the government while Senior Advocate TA Shaji and Gilbutor Korai represented Co-op Election Commission in the case.
