BALJIT SINGH Vs. SPECIAL SECRETARY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioners are members of Pandori Cooperative Agricultural Service Society Limited, Pandori (hereinafter referred to as 'Society'), which is registered under the provisions of the Punjab Cooperative Societies Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'). The petitioners except petitioner No. 3 are the sons of ex-Committee members, who are since deceased and petitioner No. 3 is the ex-Committee member of the Society.

(2.) UNDISPUTEDLY , one Mehar Singh, who was Secretary of the Society at one point of time, had embezzled an amount of Rs. 2,80,979/- during the years 1975-76 and 1976-77, and in execution of an arbitration award, only an amount of Rs. 98,600/- was recovered from him. The Managing Committee of the Society vide resolution dated 18.4.1995 decided to recover the remaining amount from the then members of the Managing Committee without interest. Further, the General Body of the Society also passed a resolution dated 9.5.1995 that only principal amount could be recovered from the ex-Committee members and, thus, approved the waiving of interest on the embezzled amount.

(3.) FEELING aggrieved against the said order, the petitioners filed a revision petition before the Joint Registrar, Co-operative Societies, Patiala Division, Patiala, which was dismissed vide order dated 31.1.2005. Still feeling aggrieved, the petitioners filed revision petition under Section 69 of the Act, which was also dismissed by the Special Secretary, Cooperation (A), Punjab, Chandigarh while observing as under :-