Article 243ZQ – Offences and Penalties
- The Legislature of a State may, by law, make provisions for the offences relating to the co-operative societies and penalties for such offences.
- A law made by the Legislature of a State under clause (1) shall include the commission of the following act or omission as offences, namely:-
- a co-operative society or an officer or member thereof willfully makes a false return or furnishes false information, or any person willfully not furnishes any information required from him by a person authorized in this behalf under the provisions of the State Act;
- any person willfully or without any reasonable excuse disobeys any summons, requisition or lawful written order issued under the provisions of the State Act;
- any employer who, without sufficient cause, fails to pay to a co-operative society amount deducted by him from its employee within a period of fourteen days from the date on which such deduction is made;
- any officer or custodian who willfully fails to handover custody of books, accounts, documents, records, cash, security and other property belonging to a co-operative society of which he is an officer or custodian, to an authorized person; and
- whoever, before, during or after the election of members of the board or office bearers, adopts any corrupt practice.
Article 243ZR – Application to multi-State co-operative societies
The provisions of this Part shall apply to the multi-State co-operative societies subject to the modification that any reference to “Legislature of a State”, “State Act” or State Government” shall be construed as a reference to “Parliament”, “Central Act” or “the Central Government” respectively.
Article 243ZS – Application to Union Territories
The provisions of this Part shall apply to the Union territories and shall, in their application to a Union territory, having no Legislative Assembly as if the references to the Legislature of a State were a reference to the administrator thereof appointed under article 239 and, in relation to a Union territory having a Legislative Assembly, to that Legislative Assembly:
Provided that the President may, by notification in the Official Gazette, direct that the provisions of this Part shall not apply to any Union territory or part thereof as he may specify in the notification.
Articles 243ZT – Continuance of existing laws
Notwithstanding anything in this Part, any provision of any law relating to co-operative societies in force in a State immediately before the commencement of the Constitution (Ninety-seventh Amendment) Act, 2011, which is inconsistent with the provisions of this Part, shall continue to be in force until amended or repealed by a competent Legislature or other competent authority or until the expiration of one year from such commencement, whichever is less.