HC quashes order on new co-op members

CUTTACK/BHUBANESWAR: The Orissa high court (HC) has quashed the November 18 notification issued by registrar of cooperative societies for inclusion of new members in the voters' list for ensuing cooperative elections on January 18 and 25.
The BJP on Tuesday said the HC decision is an indictment of the BJD government, 'which tried to fix the results by including its supporters in the list'.
A single-judge bench of Justice Biswanath Rath on Monday ruled that no new members, who have been inducted after the elections were notified, would be allowed to vote.
The direction came in response to a petition filed by Ajay Kumar Mohapatra, challenging the notification for new membership three weeks after polls were notified on October 27. "The court maintained that the voters' list, announced by the government at the time of notification for cooperative polls, would be final," said petitioner's counsel Pitambar Acharya.
BJP leader Sajjan Sharma said, "The membership drive was a conspiracy by the BJD government to illegally capture cooperative bodies."