1. Short title, extent, application and commencement. - These rules may be called the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies (Election to Committee) Rules, 2014.
2. Definitions. - In these rules, unless the context requires otherwise,-
   1. "Act" means the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 (Mah. XXIV of 1961);
   2. "ballot box" includes any box, bag or other receptacle used for the insertion of ballot paper by voters or electronic voting machine;
   3. "bye-laws" means bye laws framed under the Act;
   4. "CEO" means an administrative head of the society by whatever name called;
   5. "committee" means the Committee of management or board of directors or the governing body or the directing body of a co-operative society, by whatever name called, in which the management of the affairs of a society is entrusted;
   6. "constituency" means an electoral division as specified in the bye-laws of the society;
   7. "corrupt practice" means any of the practices specified in the Rule 79 ;
   8. "District Co-operative Election Officer" means an officer or officers approved by the SCEA, not below the rank of the Deputy Registrar, Co-operative Societies of the district to assist the SCEA in performance of its functions for the conduct of elections of societies in the District under the supervision and control of the SCEA ;
   9. "election" means an election to elect a committee or committee member and office bearer of a Co-operative Society ;
   10. "list of voters" means the list of voters as finalized in accordance with Rules 8 and 11 ;
   11. "observer" means a Government officer nominated to watch the conduct of election or elections and perform any such other functions as may be entrusted to him by the SCEA ;
   12. "Polling Officer" means any person appointed by the Returning Officer to assist the Presiding Officer ;
   13. "Presiding Officer" means any person appointed by the Returning Officer for the conduct of the election ;
   14. "public holiday" means any day which is a public holiday for the purposes of section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (26 of 1881), and includes any other day which is notified by the State Government to be a holiday for Government offices in the State or by the Collector to be a local holiday for the District ;
   15. "Reserved seat" means a seat reserved for the members belonging to the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes, Women, De-notified Tribes (Vimukta Jatis) or Nomadic Tribes or Special Backward Classes, Other Backward Classes ;
   16. "Returning Officer" means any person appointed by the SCEA or by an officer authorized by SCEA in this behalf for the conduct of the election of Societies ;
   17. "SCEA" means the State Cooperative Election Authority constituted by the State Government under section 73 CB ;
   18. "Section" means a section of the Act ;
   19. "Society" means a society as specified in the Act ;
   20. "Taluka or Ward Co-operative Election Officer" means officer approved by the SCEA who shall perform all the functions for the conduct of elections of societies in the Taluka under the supervision and control of the SCEA and District Co-operative Election Officer.
3. Powers of State Co-operative Election Authority (SCEA). - In order to conduct the elections of the co-operative societies, the SCEA shall have the following powers, namely :-
   1. to appoint any officer or employee of the State Government, or any Co-operative Society, or any Local Body on any post with such designation and duties for the purpose of conducting the elections; and it shall be obligatory on every officer or employee so appointed, to perform the duties assigned to him, failing which he shall be liable for prosecution for having committed contempt of the lawful authority of the public servant within the meaning of Chapter 'X' of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 :
      Provided that, the State Co-operative Election Authority may by general or special order direct any officer or employee of the State Government not below the rank of District Deputy Registrar to exercise its powers under this clause :
      Provided further that, such officer or employee shall work under the general superintendence and control of the State Co-operative Election Authority ;
   2. to requisition any public or private premises, vehicles, services or any other material required for holding the election, from any office of the State Government, Local Body, Cooperative Societies as he may deem necessary. On service of such requisition, it shall be obligatory on the authority to whom such requisition is made, to forthwith hand over the possession of premises, vehicles or any other material, as the case may be, to the Requisitioning Authority or any person authorized by him in that behalf ;
   3. to prescribe the code of conduct to be implemented in the area of operation of the society according to the nature of business or class of societies;
   4. to appoint Observers and Zonal officers, who shall be appointed with a view to keep watch for smooth and fair conduct of elections as and when required.
   5. to issue such special or general orders or directions for fair and free elections, which shall not be inconsistent with the provisions of the Act and the Rules.
   6. to issue general or special orders, from time to time, regarding the estimated amount of election expenditure for societies or class of societies to be deposited in the 'Election Fund' in advance by the society as required by sub-section (13) of section 73 CB of the Act. The State Co-operative Election Authority may consider to determine estimated amount of expenditure based on criteria's such as number of voters, number of candidates, number of polling stations, number of constituencies, area of operation, class of the societies, etc. for the conduct of the free and fair elections of the societies, including the election of the office bearers.