Supreme Court Criticizes UP's Colonial Practice of Appointing Bureaucrats' Spouses to Ex-Officio Positions

The Supreme Court on Tuesday strongly criticized the Uttar Pradesh government for maintaining a "colonial-era mindset" in the administration of cooperative societies and similar organizations where spouses of high-ranking officials such as district magistrates are automatically appointed as ex-officio office-bearers.

A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi instructed the state government to amend the relevant provisions within a two-month timeframe.

The court pointed out that bylaws of numerous societies in Uttar Pradesh continue to automatically assign positions, particularly the presidency, to wives of senior officials including district magistrates and chief secretaries.

The bench emphasized that such provisions were "wholly inconsistent with democratic principles" in today's governance framework.

This case originated from a petition filed by CM Zila Mahila Samiti, Bulandshahr, a women's self-help organization, which contested the practice after the district magistrate's wife was designated as the ex-officio president of their committee.

The petitioning group argued that their organization, which was established to support destitute women, was operating on an ad hoc basis lacking both transparency and accountability.

"Why should the wife of a DM be the ex-officio president of such a society without any democratic process," questioned the bench, noting that such arrangements had "no justification in modern governance."

The court observed that the samiti's articles reflected a mentality "dusted in the hands of the wife of the collector" and emphasized that public bodies should be led by democratically elected members.

State representatives acknowledged that new legislation to replace the 1860 registration law was already being drafted and requested time until the end of January to complete it.

The Supreme Court directed that once the bill passes through the state assembly, it should receive assent and be notified without delay.

According to the court, the amended provisions must ensure that model bylaws are established for all state-funded societies, trusts, and legal entities, with the possibility that organizations refusing to comply might lose their legal status or government support.

The bench further stated that governance structures "must lean towards democratic values where most members are duly elected." Acknowledging that the Bulandshahr Samiti's previous elections and bylaws had been invalidated, the court clarified that the group would not lose recognition and that an interim body would continue handling statutory requirements until a properly elected body takes charge after the implementation of the new legal framework.

The court also noted the state government's assurance that colonial-era provisions allowing bureaucrats' spouses to hold positions would be eliminated and that the new legislation would be presented to the assembly "as early as possible" and implemented without undue delay.