S.P. BHATNAGAR Vs. BALMAKUND BALLA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) CONSUMERS Cooperative Stores, Ltd., Agra, (hereinafter called the Stores), a Cooperative Society registered under the Cooperative Societies Act, 1912, (hereinafter called the Act of 1912) consists of 1500 members. At the relevant time one Gyan Chand was its Accountant and Balmukund Balla, a party to the revision its Manager. A criminal case was started against the Accountant for the misappropriation of the Stores' funds and during the pendency of the case, on an application by 29 members for appointing an arbitrator to decide certain matters relating to Gyan Chand's misconduct, which allegedly constituted the dispute between the Stores on the one side and its Governing Body and the Manager on the other side, the Registrar, Cooperative Societies, U.P. appointed Sri S.P. Bhatnagar, Deputy Registrar, Cooperative Societies, U.P. as the arbitrator. Thereupon the Manager asked the trial court to proceed under Section 33 of the Arbitration Act, 1940 (hereinafter called the Act of 1940) against the arbitrator. The trial court held that the reference of the dispute to the arbitrator was invalid because the subject -matter of the dispute went outside the scope of Rule 115 of the Cooperative Societies Rules (herein below called the Rules) and that order of the court is challenged in this revision under Section 116 Code of Criminal Procedure.

(2.) SRI T.N. Sapro, in his able arguments, vigorously maintained that Section 33 of the 1 Act of 1940 did not apply to the arbitrations under the Act of 1912 and the trial court had exercised a jurisdiction not vested in it by law. He sought to support his argument by the Rules and some specific cases.

(3.) LORD Herschell express himself thus: