ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) set aside the Sindh High Court (SHC’s) judgment, which had directed the Sindh Secretariat Cooperative Housing Society Ltd to conduct fresh elections for its managing committee.
The Sindh Secretariat Cooperative Housing Society Ltd elections were held on December 14, 2025, the successful candidates were notified on December 16, 2025, and the newly elected Managing Committee assumed charge of the affairs of the Society. However, a Division Bench of the SHC, Karachi, on March 17, 2026 set aside the elections, along with all consequential notifications and actions taken pursuant thereto, and ordered for holding fresh elections under the supervision of an Election Officer appointed by the Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Sindh.
The judgment of the two-judge bench, comprising Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Muhammad Karim Khan Agha, stated that the impugned judgment suffers from jurisdictional error and legal infirmity warranting interference. It further said that the High Court ought to have declined to entertain the constitution petition and relegated the parties to the remedy available before the Cooperative Court.
The FCC directed the Cooperative Court to decide the issue regarding the legality and authenticity of the elections of the society expeditiously, preferably within a period of thirty (30) working days.
The Court observed that the dispute before the High Court was not collateral or administrative in nature, but a challenge to the validity of a concluded election of a cooperative society.
The judgment noted that sections 73, 116, and 117 of the Sindh Cooperative Societies Act, 2020, read with Rule 53 of the Sindh Cooperative Societies Rules, 2020, create a complete jurisdictional route. Section 73 delineates the class of disputes cognizable under the Act; section 116 provides for constitution/designation of the Special Court; section 117 vests jurisdiction in that Court over matters arising under the Act and the Rules; and Rule 53 defines the contours of disputes touching the business of a society and the persons between whom such disputes may arise.
It, therefore, stated that in view of the statutory scheme and authorities to the present controversy, “the challenge to elections held on 14.12.2025 was, in substance, a dispute touching the affairs, business, and management of the society. Such dispute squarely fell within the jurisdiction of the Cooperative Court, and we, therefore, answer point (a) by holding that the proper remedy lay before the statutory forum and that the constitution petition was not maintainable as a first remedy.”
The judgment said that the controversy raised before the Sindh High Court involved factual disputes regarding the preparation of the voters’ list, custody and availability of original record, transparency of the election process, and legality of the conduct of elections. However, the High Court proceeded to set aside the election without the factual controversy being tried by the competent statutory forum. The FCC therefore held, “that disputed questions could not properly be decided in constitutional jurisdiction as a court of first instance.”
The Court said the impugned judgment also does not identify any admitted or patent violation of a mandatory statutory provision that could justify bypassing the statutory remedy. The allegations raised by the respondents may or may not ultimately succeed, but their determination required examination of the record and evidence by the forum created under the Act.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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