COURT ON ITS OWN MOTION Vs. KULDIP SINGH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Contemner Kuldip Singh had filed C.W.P. No. 210 of 1998 with the following prayers :-

(2.) He is Ex Secretary of the Saunda Cooperative Credit and Service Society Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "the Society"). A reference was made under Sections 102/103 of the Haryana Cooperative Societies Act, 1984 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act") for arbitration to the Deputy Registrar Cooperative Societies alleging that Kuldip Singh had embezzled an amount of Rs. 1,31,800.97 paise. This embezzlement was detected during the course of audit in the year 1994-95. As Secretary of the Society, the contemner had received cash from members of the Society. He had made entries in the pass books of the members which were subsequently not credited in the books of accounts of the Society. Thus, the members of the Society had been deprived of the credit for the amounts deposited with the Society. The contemner filed an application before the Deputy Registrar requesting that one Nichhattar Singh who had been working as Salesman with the Society be arrayed as a party in the proceedings as Nichhattar Singh had been receiving cash from the members of the Society and had been depositing the same in the Central Cooperative Bank in the account of the Society. The arbitrator accepted the prayer of the contemner and impleaded Nichhattar Singh as a party to the arbitration proceedings.The arbitrator in his award held Nichhattar Singh, Salesman-cum-Clerk liable to the tune of Rs. 61,576.97 paise. The Contemner was held liable for Rs. 19,737.00 which was promptly deposited by him in the Society. Nichhattar Singh and three others filed Appeal No. Co-op. 176 of 1996 before Additional Registrar (Credit) Co-operative Societies, Haryana, Chandigarh challenging the award of the Arbitrator on the ground that he had no jurisdiction to implead Nichhattar Singh as a party. On 2-1-1997, the Additional Registrar allowed the appeal filed by Nichhattar Singh with the following observations :-

(3.) Against the aforesaid order, the contemner filed R. No. 9/97 before the Joint Secretary to Government of Haryana, Cooperation Department under Section 115 of the Act. In the revision petition, the contemner argued that the Additional Registrar Cooperative Societies was biased on the ground that "one of the staff attached to him belongs to the village where the Society is in operation." This allegation was denied by the Counsel for the respondents on the ground that Society was not even a party to the arbitration proceedings. Furthermore, the allegations against the personal staff of the Additional Registrar Co-operative Societies were said to be totally baseless. It was argued that the contemner should have given an affidavit in support of the flimsy allegations made in the revision petition. The revision petition filed by the Contemner was dismissed on 23-5-1997 by the Joint Secretary Co-operation Department, Haryana with the following observations :-