HARDIYAL SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner Hardiyal Singh raised two loans for Rs. 3,500/- on 23rd December 1970, and Rs. 4, 000/- on 5th February, 1971, at the agreed rate of interest of 9 per cent per annum from the Nilas Khurd Cooperative Agricultural Service Society Tehsil Rajpura, District Patiala (hereinafter referred to as 'the society'). According to the petitioner, he paid back Rs. 4,000/- along with interest amount of Rs. 410/- on 30th June, 1972, whereas the second loan of Rs. 3,500/- remained unpaid. Five years later, that is, on 20th April, 1977, he paid a sum of Rs. 4,749/- by way of principal and interest on the outstanding loan of Rs. 3,500/-. According to him, since Rs. 900/- still remained payable by him by way of interest, and paid the same in two installments, that is Rs. 400/- on 1st June 1977, and Rs. 500/- on 17th October, 1977, thereby discharging the whole debt.

(2.) The grievance of the petitioner is that despite all this, the Arbitrator had given the award against him holding him liable for the aforesaid debt without taking into account the payments made by him. Against the impugned award, he had filed an appeal on 20th June, 1978, before the Assistant Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Rajpura. On 2nd May, 1981, when the present writ petition was filed, it was stated in the petition that the next date fixed in the appeal before the Assistant Registrar, Cooperative Societies, was 26th May, 1981. During the pendency of the aforesaid appeal, the Sales Officer, the Patiala Central Cooperative Bank Limited, Patiala had issued on 7th March, 1981 a notice for 16th April, 1981 for auctioning the land of the petitioner for the recovery of the loan. It is against this notice that the petitioner has approached this Court, mainly on the ground that as the entire amount of loan along with interest, had been paid back, no recovery could be made from the petitioner and, therefore, the impugned notice for auctioning his land was wholly without jurisdiction and illegal, especially when the appeal is the petitioner was still pending before the Assistant Registrar.

(3.) In the written statement filed by the respondents, the broad factual position has been admitted and it has been stated that though the petitioner had not produced all the receipts for the payments made by him, yet the amount had been duly credited to his account. Accordingly to the society, since the entire amount had not been paid, the outstanding principal amount along with interest worked out to be Rs. 13,515/- which was still payable by the petitioner.