K.VENUGOPALAN Vs. DEPUTY REGISTRAR OF CO-OPERATIVE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) All the four writ petitions have been filed challenging the order passed by the Principal District Court/Co-operative Tribunal, Tiruvarur in C. M. A. No. 8 of 2008 and C. M. A. No. 35 of 2008.

(2.) The petitioner in W. P. No. 28776 of 2016 is one Mr. K. Venugopalan, who was the Manager/Secretary of the respondent Co-operative Society who has since been dismissed from service. The petitioner in W. P. No. 36740 of 2016 is Mr. T. Panneerselvam, the Managing Director of the Society against whom disciplinary action was initiated culminating in a punishment of stoppage of one increment for five years without cumulative effect. W. P. Nos. 7432 and 7433 of 2017 have been filed by the Special Officer/Managing Director of Thiruthuraipoondi Agricultural Producers Co-operative Marketing Society, in which the writ petitioners were working as Manager and Managing Director respectively.

(3.) The reason for filing four writ petitions is because the Managing Director and the Manager are aggrieved by the order passed by the Tribunal in not completely exonerating them from the surcharge proceedings initiated under Section 87 of the Tamil Nadu Co-operative Societies Act, 1983 [for brevity "the Act"]. Totally 18 charges were framed against the writ petitioners, of which, against the Managing Director, the Tribunal exonerated him of charges 13 to 17 and for the Manager, exonerated of charges 13 to 18. The writ petitioners are aggrieved with regard to the findings recorded by the Tribunal with regard to the other charges. The Co-operative Society is also before this Court challenging the order of the Tribunal as against the findings recorded by the Tribunal exonerating the Managing Director and the Manager of charges 13 to 17 and 13 to 18 respectively. Therefore, if a result is arrived at in W. P. Nos. 7432 and 7433 of 2017, it will give a quietus to the matter as the Society seeks to sustain the surcharge order in its entirety. However, the Court heard the arguments of the learned Senior Counsels for the petitioners and thereafter, the learned counsel for the Co-operative Society and would take note of the arguments in such seriatum.