Amendments of Bye-laws

Part 1

v     General

An amendment may mean an alteration or deletion of words, clause or a whole paragraph.

No amendments of the Bye-laws should be contrary to the Act, Rules or inconsistent with other Bye-laws of the society.

Amendments take effect only after they are approved and registered by the Registrar and a memo to that effect is issued by him under his signature and the seal of his Office (Section 13).

v     Procedure

(1) As per Rule 12, the notice should be issued to the society members before calling the general meeting. The following points should be carefully noted vide drafting notice calling the general meeting:

(a)    Period of notice

(b)   Parties to whom the notice should be issued

(c)    Manner in which the notice is issued

(d)   Contents of the notice (Date, hour, place of meeting and the specific amendments to be placed before the meeting for approval)

The officers who have been empowered under the Bye-laws are to sign the original copy of the notice (vide enclosure I) to the proposal form.

(2)   The following additional information should be furnished along with the amendment proposal

(a)    A copy of the notice of the Annual or Special General Meeting in which the amendment/s were considered.

(b)    A copy of the resolution of the Managing Committee of the society authorizing the signatories to sign the amendment proposal.

(c)    A copy of the latest Balance Sheet and the Income and Expenditure Account for the preceding Co-operative year.

(3)    The amendment to be forwarded for the Registrar’s approval should be approved by the general meeting and the following requirements should be satisfied :

(a)    At the general meeting there should be a quorum. What constitutes a “quorum” is laid down in the Bye-laws of the society.  If at the meeting there is no quorum the meeting should be adjourned.  At the adjourned meeting whether there is quorum or not the amendment/s may be considered and voted upon.

(b)    The resolution should be formally proposed, seconded and passed by a vote of at least tow-thirds of the members present and voting, in favour of the amendment/s.

(c ) One copy of the resolution of the general meeting approving the amendment/s should be sent to the Registrar within two months from the date of the meeting at which the resolution was passed (vide enclosure II of the proposal form).

(c)    The approval of the amendment/s by general meeting should be in the form of a resolution.

(4)    The copy of the resolution sent to the Registrar should be accompanied by a statement showing the existing Bye-laws, the proposed amendment/s and the reasons for the amendments. If however, the society adopts a whole set of revised model Bye-laws in place of the existing Bye-laws, it should be sufficient to submit the statement showing how the blanks in the revised model Bye-laws are different from those in the existing Bye-laws (vide enclosure III of the form).

(5)    Four copies of the Bye-laws as they would read as per the amendment/s should also be attached to the copy of the resolution.  These should be written in the same language in which the Bye-laws of the society are framed (vide enclosure IV of the form).

(6)    Certain additional information regarding the society as on the date of the general meeting at which the amendment/s are approved should be supplied to enable the Registrar to decide whether the proposed amendment/s are proper, necessary and desirable (vide enclosure V of the form).

(7)    All these enclosures (I to V) to the proposal should be written in ink, printed or typed on separate full sheets of paper providing at least one fourth margin.  They should be signed by the Chairman and another member of the committee and the Secretary and should carry the stamp of the Society.  The enclosures should be submitted together with a forwarding letter to the Registrar through the Assistant Registrar of the Division in which the society is situated.