SURESH Vs. MANAGING DIRECTOR KARNATAKA MILK FEDERATION BIJAPUR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS Second Appeal involves a short but interesting question viz. , whether the plaintiff, who was admittedly an agent of the respondents-defendants, a society, and whose agency had been terminated, could maintain a suit for recovery of the deposit amount of Rs. 2,000/-, which had been deposited at the time of award of agency in favour of plaintiff and can be recovered with interest on the termination of the agency and on the assumption that the termination was bad in law, notwithstanding the provisions of Section 70 of the Karnataka Co-operative societies Act, 1959 (for short, the Act ).

(2.) THE trial Court as well as the first appellate Court having nonsuited the plaintiff only on the ground that sueh a suit was not tenable in the light of the provisions of Section 70 of the Act, to get over such judgments and to get a decree for this amount, the present second appeal. At the time of admission the following substantial question of law had formulated as arising for determination in this second appeal: 1) Whether the suit filed by the appellant is barred under section 70 of the Karnataka Co-operative Societies Act?

(3.) THE material facts leading to this second appeal are not in dispute viz. , that the plaintiff had been appointed an agent of the defendants-milk federation, a co-operative society, to market/supply its products of milk under Nandini brand to consumers on commission basis. It appears the defendants terminated the agency being of the view that the plaintiff had violated the terms of the agency, as according to the defendant-society, the plaintiff was found to be marketing milk ether than Nandini brand also. Though the justification for termination of the agency on this ground has been found against the defendant-society, the Courts below, nevertheless, dismissed the suit only on the premise that a civil suit of the nature as filed by the plaintiff was not maintainable, particularly due to the bar provided under Section 70 of the Act. Section 70 of the Act reads as under: 70. Disputes which may be referred to Registrar for decision: