JO THOMAS Vs. REGISTRAR OF CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES

JUDGEMENT

(1.) As all these writ petitions involve a common issue, they are taken up together for consideration and disposed by this common judgment. Writ Petitions 38548/2018, 38639/2018, 21119/2019 and 21159/2019 are preferred challenging the reports drawn up in terms of Section 66 of the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act( 'the Act' for short) as also the Section 68(1) notices that were issued by the Joint Registrar of the Co-operative Societies, informing the petitioners of the initiation of an enquiry in terms of the said Section based on the reports obtained by him under Section 66 of the Act. While in writ petitions 38548/2018, 21159/2019 and 21119/2019, the notices under Section 68(1) of the Act are impugned together with the reports under Section 66 that were relied upon while issuing the said notices, in writ petition 38639/2018, the challenge is only to the report drawn up under Section 66 of the Act.

(2.) In all these writ petitions, the petitioners impugn the action of the Joint Registrar, primarily on the contention that the statutory procedure, that had to be adhered to while drawing up the reports under Section 66, had not been followed by the authorities concerned and hence, the said reports are vitiated to that extent and consequently, the issuance of a notice in terms of Section 68(1) for initiating an enquiry against the petitioners also cannot be legally justified. In writ petition 30556/2018 filed by certain members of the Kaduthuruthi Co-operative Rubber Marketing and Processing society, the prayer is essentially for a direction to the official respondent to complete the proceedings initiated by the notices issued under Section 68(1) against the persons who are allegedly responsible for the loss and misappropriation of money from the said Society on the basis of the enquiry reports relied upon by the Joint Registrar of the Co-operative Society as narrated above.

(3.) I note from the case records that by an interim order dated 18/12/2019 in writ petitions 21119/2019 and 21159/2019, this Court had directed that the enquiry under Section 68 of the Act can go on, but that, before proceeding further with any enquiry report, the said report shall be placed before this Court. When these matters were taken up for disposal today, the learned Government Pleader submits, on instructions, that the enquiry proceedings under Section 68 are still underway and no final report has been drawn up, or order passed in terms of Section 68(2), till date. Taking note of the said submission of the learned Government Pleader, I am of the view that these writ petitions can be disposed in the light of the judgment dated 14/1/2020 of this Court in W.P(C)No. 888/2020 where, in the context of a challenge against a Section 68(1) notice, this Court found as follows;