CHHAJJA SINGH Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Letters Patent Appeal Nos. 732, 735, 743, 753, 754 and 782 of 1973 and 1 and 239 of 1974 involving a common question of law pertaining to the vires of Section 67-A of the Punjab Co-operative Societies Act, 1961 as inserted by Haryana Government vide Section 16 of Haryana Act No. 13 of 1971 and subsequent amendments made vide Haryana Act No. 42 of 1974 - are to be decided by this judgment.

(2.) While the pronouncement regarding the vires of Section 67-A of the Punjab Co-operative Societies Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the Act), one way or the other would suffice to finally dispose of the Letters Patent Appeal Nos. 239 of 1974, 735, 732, 753 and 754 of 1973, as no other point has been canvassed on behalf of the appellants in these appeals; in regard to the Letters Patent Appeal Nos. 1 of 1974 and 743 of 1973, it would further have to be decided as to whether the provisions of Section 67-A in the event of being held to be intra vires are or are not attracted to the cases of the appellant-debtors in question and in regard to L.P.A. No. 782 of 1973 it would have to be seen as to whether the procedure envisaged under Section 67-A had or had not been followed.

(3.) While the contention raised on behalf of the appellant in Letters Patent Appeal No. 1 of 1974 is that the loan taken by him from the Co-operative Society, respondent No. 4, for the installation of a tube-well cannot be considered a loan for the purpose of raising crops and, therefore, for its recovery, provisions of Section 67-A of the Act cannot be resorted to, the point raised in the other Letters Patent Appeal No. 743 of 1973 is that the Co-operative Society, from which he had taken the loan is in the process of being wound up and is not a running Society and, therefore, the purpose and object of devising the new procedure for the speedy recovery of the types of the loans mentioned in Section 67-A of the Act has become irrelevant in regard to the recovery of debts of such a Society.