REGISTRAR CANE COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES & ORS. versus GURDEEP SINGH NARVAL (DEAD) THROUGH LRS. & ORS.

Citation: [2026] 3 S.C.R. 301 · Decided: 10-03-2026 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: PAMIDIGHANTAM SRI NARASIMHA

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Judgment (excerpt)

[2026] 3 S.C.R. 301 : 2026 INSC 216
Registrar Cane Cooperative Societies & Ors. 
v. 
Gurdeep Singh Narval (Dead) Through Lrs. & Ors.
(Civil Appeal No. 8743 of 2013)
10 March 2026
[Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Alok Aradhe,* JJ.]
Issue for Consideration
Whether Sugarcane Growers Cooperative Societies, Bajpur and 
Gadarpur, situated in Udham Singh Nagar, District of Uttarakhand 
could be treated as Multi-State Cooperative Societies by operation 
of s.103 of Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002, despite their 
prior reorganisation and confinement of their area of operations 
to a single State, under the statutory framework governing State 
reorganisation.
Headnotes†
Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000 – ss.87, 93 – Multi-State 
Cooperative Societies Act, 2002 – s.103 – Sugarcane Growers 
Cooperative Societies, Bajpur and Gadarpur, situated in Udham 
Singh Nagar, District of Uttarakhand, if could be treated as 
Multi-State Cooperative Societies by operation of s.103 of 2002 
Act, despite their prior reorganisation and confinement of 
their area of operations to a single State, under the statutory 
framework governing State reorganization:
Held: Sugarcane Growers Cooperative Societies, Bajpur and 
Gadarpur are not Multi-State Cooperative Societies under the 2002 
Act – Residence of the members or the geographical spread of 
activity cannot substitute the statutory requirement that principal 
objects must themselves be Multi States in character – In the 
instant appeals on careful scrutiny of bye-laws, it is evident 
that the object of the society are confined to safeguarding and 
promoting the interests of local canegrowers and their objects do 
not evince any intention to serve the members across the State 
boundaries – In view of the statutory scheme and chronology of 
events, decisions taken to reorganize the societies on bifurcation 
of erstwhile State of Uttar Pradesh are valid in view of ss.87 and 
* Author
302
[2026] 3 S.C.R.
Supreme Court Reports
93 of Reorganisation Act – s.103 of 2002 Act neither operates 
automatically nor could it retrospectively invalidate the completed 
actions undertaken under the Reorganisation Act – Provisions 
contained in two statutes must be, if possible, interpreted in a 
harmonious manner to give full effect to both the statutes – The 
overriding effect of Reorganisation Act and effect of s.103 of 
the 2002 Act necessitates a harmonious construction by which 
operation of legal fiction has to be restricted, in cases where action 
for reorganisation of the Societies has already been taken and in 
respect of the Society whose objects and area of operation are 
confined to a single State – A deeming provision u/s.103 of 2002 
Act cannot unsettle such completed action for reorganisation, by 
virtue of ss.87 and 93 of the Reorganisation Act – In the absence 
of multiple State objects in the bye-laws of the Societies, the 
same cannot be treated as Multi-State Cooperative Societies, as 
statutory pre-conditions for invoking s.103 of 2002 Act are absent – 
Judgment dtd.14.03.2007 passed by the High Court is quashed 
and set aside while the judgment dtd.05.09.2006 passed in C.A. 
No.8746 of 2013 by High Court is upheld – Authorities under the 
State Cooperative law shall take steps to conduct the elections 
of the Societies expeditiously – U.P. Cooperative Societies Act, 
1965 – Interpretation of Statutes. [Paras 23, 24, 26] 
Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002 – s.103 – Deeming 
fiction under – Legal fiction is confined to the purpose 
for which it is created and cannot be extended beyond its 
legitimate field:
Held: s.103 of 2002 Act introduces a deeming fiction, whereby 
certain societies affected by reorganisation may be treated as 
Multi-State Cooperative Societies – A legal fiction must be strictly 
confined to the purpose for which it is created and cannot be 
extended beyond its legitimate field – Legal fictions are crafted 
tools, precise in purpose and limited in reach – The deeming 
fiction created u/s.103 of the 2002 Act cannot, in any case be 
construed in isolation so as to override the express statutory scheme 
contained in Reorganisation Act, which is an enactment governing 
all legal, administrative and institutional consequences arising from 
bifurcation of erstwhile State of Uttar Pradesh – The Reorganisation 
Act has also a non-obstante clause i.e., s.93 – The deeming fiction 
which though provides for a contingency on bifurcation of State, 
embodied 

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