KAMTA PRASAD Vs. REGISTRAR CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BY this application under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution the petitioner kamta Prasacl seeks a writ of certiorari for quashing an order passed by the registrar, Co-operative Societies, on 31st May 1966 expelling him from 14 Cooperative societies registered under the Madhya Pradesh Cooperative Societies act, 1960. , An appeal preferred by the petitioner against the order of the registrar was rejected by the State Government and a writ of certiorari has been sought for quashing also this order of the Government.

(2.) THE material facts are that till the passing of the impugned order the applicant was a member of 14 Co-operative Societies. He was a primary member of some of the Cooperative Societies and also President or Chairman of some of them. In other Co-operative Societies, he was a member of the managing committee. Of the Co-operative Societies in which the petitioner was a member, some are banking Co-operative Societies and others are marketing Co-operative Societies. The Bhopal Printers and Publishers Co-operative Press Ltd. , Bhopal, of which the petitioner was the President, used to publish a Hindi weekly "kisan Rajya". In the issues of the paper dated 26th January 1965, 10th February 1965 and 18th march 1965 certain articles and news items appeared having a bearing on matters which were sub judice in a prosecution against Bishambhar Dayal and others in respect of offences under Sections 420, 465, 471, 477-A, 201 and 120-B of the indian Penal Code pending in the Court of the Judicial Magistrate, Kanpur. Bishambhar Dayal and other accused persons moved the Allahabad H4gh Court for punishing the petitioner Kamta Prasad and the printer and publisher of the paper "kisan Rajya" for contempt of Court in respect of the objectionable publications. In these contempt of Court proceedings the Allahabad High Court found the applicant kamta Prasad guilty of contempt of Court and imposed on him a fine of Rs. 1,000 or in default to suffer one month's simple imprisonment. In the judgment finding Kamta Prasad guilty of contempt of Court, the learned judge of the Allahabad High Court who decided the contempt case observed:

(3.) THIS explanation of the petitioner did not impress the Registrar. In his opinion when the Allahabad High Court had described the petitioner as a "liar" and a "trickster" and directed his prosecution for the offence of perjury, it was clearly in the interest of the Societies of which the petitioner was a member that the petitioner should be expelled from those Societies. Accordingly, he passed the impugned order expelling the petitioner from the membership of the Co-operative societies mentioned in the annexure to the order dated 31st May 1966.