The Supreme Court of India expressed strong disapproval on Monday towards the practice in Uttar Pradesh where wives of top bureaucrats, such as chief secretaries and district magistrates, automatically hold ex-officio positions in the state’s cooperative societies. The court described this practice as a reflection of a “colonial mindset” and demanded that the state government amend its rules accordingly.
Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan heard the arguments presented by Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj, who acknowledged the resistance from cooperative societies against changing this tradition. Justice Kant emphasized the need for Uttar Pradesh to adopt model rules that do not perpetuate outdated and colonial attitudes by assigning ex-officio roles to family members of administrative officials.
The directive came as the court reviewed the functioning of the Bulandshahr Zila Mahila Samiti, a cooperative society dedicated to the welfare of widows, orphans, and marginalized women since 1957. The society had originally required the district magistrate’s wife to serve as its president—a rule which the society attempted to amend in 2022, changing the role to that of a “patron.” However, these amendments were voided by the deputy registrar, a decision upheld by the Allahabad High Court.
The Supreme Court has now ordered the UP government to draft an appropriate proposal for the amendment of these regulations and present it at the next hearing, scheduled six weeks from now. Meanwhile, the court has prohibited the district magistrate’s wife from holding any official position or interfering with the society’s operations.
On May 6, the Supreme Court had sharply criticized the state government’s approval of regulations that mandated such ex-officio roles, labeling the regulation as both “atrocious” and “humiliating” for women throughout the state. The justices questioned why leadership roles within these societies were not assigned based on qualifications or community leadership skills but rather on marital ties to bureaucrats.
