The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up the Uttar Pradesh government for continuing with a “colonial-era mindset” in the governance of cooperative societies and similar state-supported bodies where the wives of senior bureaucrats, including district magistrates, are made ex-officio office-bearers.
A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, sitting with Justice Joymalya Bagchi, directed the state to amend the relevant provisions within two months and ensure that public bodies adopt democratic structures instead of inherited administrative practices.
The court noted that byelaws of several societies in Uttar Pradesh still provide automatic positions—such as president—to the wives of district magistrates, chief secretaries and other senior officials. These provisions, the bench said, stand in sharp conflict with the values expected in modern public administration.
“Why should the wife of a DM be the ex-officio president of such a society without any democratic process?” the court asked, reiterating that these arrangements had “no justification in modern governance.” It added that the articles of the Bulandshahr women’s samiti reflected a mentality “dusted in the hands of the wife of the collector.”
The bench emphasised that public bodies “must lean towards democratic values where most members are duly elected.”
The court was hearing a petition filed by CM Zila Mahila Samiti, Bulandshahr, which challenged the practice after the district magistrate’s spouse was automatically made ex-officio president of their group. The samiti, created to assist destitute women, argued that the governance model lacked transparency, accountability and democratic legitimacy.
The group submitted that the society had been run on an ad hoc basis for years and that elections and existing byelaws had previously been set aside.
Appearing for the state, officials informed the court that a new bill to replace the 1860 registration law was already under preparation. They sought time till the end of January to finalise and place it before the assembly.
The Supreme Court directed that once the new legislation is passed, it must be assented to and notified “at the earliest.” It further ordered that amended provisions must mandate model byelaws for all state-funded societies, trusts and legal entities. Any organisation refusing to follow the updated democratic framework “may lose its legal status or government support.”
The bench made it clear that the Bulandshahr Samiti would not be derecognised. An interim body will continue handling statutory compliances under applicable laws until a duly elected body takes over once the new legal framework is in place.
The state also assured the court that provisions permitting spouses of top officials to hold positions in such societies would be removed and that the proposed legislation would be introduced “as early as possible” and notified without delay.
