Goa Dairy’s board back in saddle after Bombay HC order

PONDA: After winning the legal battle in court, Goa Dairy’s board of directors, headed by its chairman Rajesh K Phaldessai, will take over its reins on Tuesday.

The dairy’s affairs is currently being looked after by an administrator appointed by the state government. The registrar of cooperative societies had disqualified seven of the dairy’s directors on August 31, 2018.

A division bench of the high court of Bombay at Goa, comprising Justice R D Dhanuka and Justice Prithviraj K Chavan, recently set aside the disqualification of the directors. The bench has also directed the registrar to hear the directors within four months and issue a fresh order, accordingly.

Then registrar, Sanjiv Gadkar, had disqualified the seven directors, Dhananjay Desai, Vithoba Desai, Baburao Desai, Naresh Malik, Gokuldas Parab, Madhav Sahakari and Rajendra Sawant to continue as members of the Goa State Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union also called as Goa Dairy under Section 59 (11) of the Goa Cooperative Act with immediate effect holding them responsible for the discrepancies in the working of the dairy.

The order had also appointed Damodar Morajkar as administrator over the dairy and had directed him to suspend the managing director, N C Sawant, holding him responsible for the irregularities and mismanagement of the milk union. Services of the managing director were then suspended accordingly.

Stating that they were not heard before issuing the order, several members of the board, including the disqualified directors and the managing director, had moved the court seeking quashing of the order. Morajkar was later replaced by deputy commissioner of commercial tax, Santosh Kundaikar, on January 28.

Goa Dairy’s directors will take charge on Tuesday. The high court order has also set aside the suspension of its managing director N C Sawant, and he will resume charge as well.