KAVI RAJAN Vs. CO OPERATIVE TRIBUNAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This case has been referred by Justice Chettur Sankaran Nair to the Division Bench at the stage of admission in view of the contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner that there is an apparent conflict between the two Division Bench decisions of this Court reported in Thilakan v. M.C.V. Coop. Society Ltd. ( 1978 KLT 256 ) and Dy. Registrar of Cooperative Societies v. Velayudha Kurup (Case No. 46, 1979 KLT Short Notes, page 24), that is, the decision in Writ Appeal No. 312 of 1976 rendered by V.P. Gopalan Nambiyar C.J. and M.P. Menon J., on 31-1-1979. The Kerala Cooperative Tribunal has taken the view that the provisions of the Limitation Act are not applicable to arbitration proceedings under S.69 of the Kerala Cooperative Societies Act, 1969. That is precisely the view taken by the Division Bench of this Court consisting of Balakrishna Eradi, J. (as he then was) and Narendran J. in 1978 KLT 256 decided on 21-12-1977. It has been laid down in the said decision that the Assistant Registrar not being a Court governed by the Code of Civil Procedure, the provisions of the Limitation Act do not have application to the adjudication proceedings by him under S.69 of the Cooperative Societies Act. The case relied on by the learned counsel for the petitioner, namely, Writ Appeal No. 312 of 1976 is the one decided by V.P. Gopalan Nambiyar C.J. and M.P. Menon J. on 31-1-1979. In that case what the Court was required to examine was in regard to the application for impleading and the Bench observed that even assuming that there is power to implead, the same should be done within the time allowed by the Limitation Act. It is this decision that is relied upon by the learned counsel for the petitioner in support of his plea that the authority functioning under S.69 of the Kerala Cooperative Societies Act is a Court and that the provisions of the Limitation Act therefore get attracted to those proceedings. Hence it was submitted that there is an apparent conflict between the two Division Bench rulings which requires to be examined and settled by a larger Bench. But we find that this question is no more res Integra as the same had come up before this very Division Bench in O.P. No. 1678 of 1980, decided on the 31st July, 1980. The very same decision in Writ Appeal No. 312 of 1976 was pressed into service in support of the contention that the authority functioning under S.69 of the Kerala Cooperative Societies Act is a Court and that therefore the provisions of the Limitation Act are applicable. Dealing with the similar contention, this is what we have observed: