HC reinstates elected body

CUTTACK: In a significant development, the Orissa High Court on Wednesday struck down the formation of a Committee to manage the affairs of the Urban Cooperative Bank, Cuttack, by the State Government and reinstated the elected body by an interim order. The division bench of the court comprising Justices BP Das and SK Mishra has restrained the nominated Committee from taking over the management of the bank.  The court had earlier on September 26 stayed the notification appointing a Committee for management of Urban Cooperative Bank, Cuttack, and called for   all the records. Upon perusal of records, the court passed the order on Wednesday which shall continue till disposal of the writ petition.   The directives came in response to two writ petitions filed by bank directors  Ranjita Kahali and Tillotama Pradhan challenging the amendment to the Election Rules as well as the notification appointing the Committee on various grounds. According to them, there was no election for a long time and pursuant to the HC direction, it  was held last year. The new elected body took charge only in December 2010. While the elected body was functioning properly there was no necessity for the authority to resort to such an illegal and arbitrary decision, they alleged. The petitioners have alleged that one of the committee members appointed had lost the election. Indicating other circumstances, the petitioners have appealed to the court to quash the amendment as well as the notification appointing the committee.