PUSHPANGADAN G. Vs. JOINT REGISTRAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner, President of the Mylachal Service Co-operative Bank Ltd.No: 683 has filed this writ petition aggrieved by Ext.P1 proceedings of the first respondent by which an enquiry under Section 66 of the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act, 1969, the 'Act' for short has been ordered. According to the petitioner, one Vikraman Nair who is the third respondent in this writ petition was carrying on a campaign of submitting complaints against the society to the authorities. Such complaints had been got enquired into through the Assistant Registrars and were found to be without any substance as per Exts.P3 and P5 reports. Therefore, there is no necessity for ordering a further enquiry under Section 66 of the Act. It is contended that the present enquiry that has been ordered is motivated and is intended only to fish for evidence with the object of superseding the elected Managing Committee that is in power. It is contended that the provisions of law should not be used for such oblique purposes and therefore the order Ext.P1 is liable to be set aside.

(2.) ACCORDING to Adv. P.C. Sasidharan who appears for the petitioner, Section 66 contemplates the ordering of an enquiry in a situation where a creditor of a society wants such an enquiry to be conducted. The supervisory power of the Registrar under Section 66 does not extend to ordering of an enquiry on the basis of a complaint filed by the third respondent as in the present case. The order Ext.P1 itself shows that the enquiry has been directed to be conducted into the complaints made by the third respondent. Since the complaints have already been found to be without any substance by the earlier enquiries conducted it is contended that the present enquiry that has been ordered, is highly improper and an abuse of the process of law. The petitioner therefore seeks the intervention of this Court to set aside Ext.P1.

(3.) I have heard the counsel for the petitioner as well as the learned Govt. Pleader at length. I have also considered the rival contentions advanced before me anxiously.