KARANNUR SERVICE CO Vs. CALICUT CITY SERVICE CO

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this writ petition, yet again, the issue of a turf war between the co-operative societies operating in the adjacent areas has fallen for consideration. In fact, the core issue to be determined is about the resultant alleged prejudice on account of encroachment by one society into the area of another society.

(2.) The petitioner is a Co-operative Bank established in 1943, whereas the first respondent was established in 2002. The petitioner Bank has Elathur as one of its areas of operation; the first respondent Bank has as its area of operation the entire territory of Kozhikode Corporation.

(3.) In the course of time, to be more specific, in 2009, the Government expanded the territorial limits of the Kozhikode Corporation by including four more Grama Panchayats. Incidentally, Elathur is one of the Grama Panchayats that has been annexed to the Kozhikode Corporation. Taking advantage of the expanded area, the first respondent Bank has amended its bye-laws, including newly-annexed areas as being part of its area of operation. It submitted the bye-laws for approval. The second respondent, in turn, approved it through Exhibit R1(a) proceedings.