Deeming cessation under co-operative rules applies only to the later housing society, preserving membership in the first society

A member who incurs disqualification on joining a second housing society under the Delhi Co-operative Societies Rules, 1973 is deemed to cease membership only in that later society, not in both societies. Rule 25(2) applies to the society in which the disqualification arises, because a broader reading would make Rule 28, which separately empowers the Registrar to direct removal from either or both societies, redundant. The provisions must therefore be read harmoniously. On that construction, the earlier society's membership remains unaffected, and orders directing cessation from both societies are unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether a member who becomes disqualified under Rule 25(1)(c)(iii) of the Delhi Co-operative Societies Rules, 1973 ceases to be a member of both housing societies or only of the society in respect of which the disqualification is incurred.

Analysis: Rule 24 governs admission to membership, Rule 25 specifies disqualifications, Rule 25(2) creates a deeming fiction of cessation from the date the disqualification is incurred, and Rule 28 separately empowers the Registrar to direct removal from either or both societies when a person becomes a member of two co-operative societies of the same class. Reading the provisions together, a harmonious construction requires that Rule 25(2) operate in relation to the society with which the disqualification arises, otherwise Rule 28 would be rendered otiose. The disqualification under Rule 25(1)(c)(iii) attaches to the second housing society, not the first, and the deeming cessation is confined to that second society.

Conclusion: The appellant ceased to be a member only of the later housing society and his membership of the first housing society remained unaffected; the orders directing cessation from both societies were unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statutory disqualification is incurred on becoming a member of a second housing society, the deeming cessation provision must be confined to that society and must be construed harmoniously with a separate provision empowering the Registrar to direct removal from either or both societies.

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