BALWANT Vs. NAGPUR CO OPERATIVE HOUSING SOCIETY LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner seeks quashing and setting aside of the appellate judgment and order dated 1281999 passed by the learned Member, Cooperative Appellate Court, dismissing petitioner's appeal against the judgment and order dated 221998 passed by the learned Judge, Cooperative Court, dismissing petitioner's dispute.

(2.) Facts material for deciding this petition are as under : The petitioner is a member of the respondentSociety, which had been allotted 13 plots of land at Bajaj Nagar, Nagpur, by the Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) for construction of residential bungalows. The petitioner was allotted plot No.122 out of these plots. The petitioner claimed to have spent substantial amount on the said plot. This allotment in favour of the petitioner was cancelled by the NIT, and the plot was allotted to the respondentSociety itself. The petitioner filed a civil suit numbered as Regular Civil Suit No.588 of 1971 in the Civil Court against the NIT. The Civil Court, by order dated 341976, held that it had no jurisdiction to try the suit, observing that the dispute would have to be referred to the Registrar of the Cooperative Societies.

(3.) The Society constructed a bungalow on the said plot, which was leased out to one Kailashchandra Agrawal, who was not a member of the respondentSociety at the relevant time. After a decision to sell the property was confirmed at the Annual General Meeting on 19121993, and after issuing an advertisement on 14111994 for sale of the property, the Society sold the property to said Agrawal, admitting him to the membership of Society during the pendency of the proceedings before the Cooperative Court, which were initiated on 30121993. Thereafter, on 1321995, the Cooperative Court had passed an order directing the parties to maintain status quo.