Section 3 of the Co-operative Societies Act, 1912 - The Registrar

Section 3 of the Co-operative Societies Act, 1912 deals with the appointment of the Registrar of Co-operative Societies, appointment of persons to assist the Registrar, and the State Government's power to confer the Registrar's statutory powers on such assisting persons by a general or special order.

Section 3 - The Registrar

Meaning of Registrar under the Act

Section 2(f) defines "Registrar" as a person appointed to perform the duties of a Registrar of Co-operative Societies under the Act. Section 3 provides the mechanism through which the State Government appoints the Registrar and may authorise assisting officers to exercise specified powers of the Registrar.

What Section 3 provides

• Appointment by State Government: The authority to appoint the Registrar rests with the State Government.
• Territorial appointment: A Registrar may be appointed for the whole State or for a portion of the State.
• Assisting officers: The State Government may appoint persons to assist the Registrar.
• Delegation of statutory powers: By a general or special order, the State Government may confer all or any of the Registrar's powers under the Act on persons appointed to assist the Registrar.

Legal significance of Section 3

Section 3 establishes the statutory office responsible for administering functions assigned to the Registrar under the Act. It also permits administrative distribution of those functions by allowing authorised assisting officers to exercise powers that the State Government confers upon them under a general or special order.

The provision should therefore be read together with the particular section under which a Registrar's power is being exercised and, where an assisting officer acts, with the applicable government order conferring that power.

Official text of the Act

The current central text of the Co-operative Societies Act, 1912 can be checked on the Government of India's India Code portal.