THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE D. KRISHNAKUMAR
W.P. No. 31678 of 2016 and W.M.P Nos. 27487 & 27488 of 2016
1. V.N.Doraiswamy
2. P.Chitramekala ... Petitioners Vs
1. The Secretary to Government, Food, Consumer Protection and Cooperative Department, Fort St. George, Chennai-600 009.
2. The Sub Registrar of Co-operative Societies/ Field Officer, S.S.Kulam, Collector Campus, Coimbatore-18.
3. The Secretary, K.2069, Veerakeralam Town Co-operative Credit Society Ltd, No.21/17, Periyathottam Colony, Veerakeralam, Coimbatore-641 007. ...Respondents Prayer: Petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for the issuance of a WRIT OF CERTIORARI, calling for the entire records relating to the impugned order passed by the 2nd respondent in the proceedings Thava Petition No. 313/2015 Sa.Pa.1, dated 21.06.2016 and quash the same and pass such further or other orders.
For Petitioner : Mrs.Hemalatha foor Mr. C. Prakasam For Respondents : Mr. V. Selvaraj, AGP (Co-op) for R1 & R2 Mr.L.P.Shanmugasundaram Spl Government Pleader for R3 O R D E R This Writ Petition has been filed seeking to quash the order passed by the 2nd respondent in proceedings Thava Petition No. 313/2015 Sa.Pa.1, dated 21.06.2016.
2. The 1st petitioner is the husband of the 2nd petitioner.
Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner obtained a loan of Rs.1.57 laksh from the 3rd respondent Society, by mortgaging an extent of 96 cents of his agricultural land and the 2nd petitioner stood as a guarantor. Due to monsoon failure and as the crops were destroyed by the elephants, the petitioner was not able to repay the loan amount. Hence, the 2nd respondent initiated action against the petitioners, under Section 90 of the Tamil Nadu Co-operative Societies Act, 1983 and passed the impuged award. According to the petitioner, the 2nd respondent do not have power to deal with the monetary dispute over the limit of Rs.2 lakhs, but the award has been passed by the 2nd respondent, under Section 90(2)(b) of the Act, to a tune of Rs.2,87,710/-. Aggreived by the said order, the petitioners have filed the present writ petition, contending that the 2nd respondent has no jurisdiction to pass the impugned award, since it exceeds the monetary limit of Rs. 2 lakhs.
3. Learned Special Government Pleader would submit that the petitioners failed to repay the dues and hence the 3rd respondent Society initiated arbitration proceedings under Section 90 of the Tamil Nadu Cooperative Societies Act, 1983 before the Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Coimbatore. The Deputy Registrar has referred the dispute to the 2nd respondent/ Sub Registrar of Cooperative Societies to take action against the petitioners, under Section 90(2)(a) of the Act. Further, he submitted that, if at all the petitoners are aggrieved, under Section 152 of the Tamilnadu Cooperative Societies Act, they have to file an appeal before the Cooperative Tribunal/ District Judge but without exhausting the appeal remedy the petitioners have filed the present writ petition and so this writ petition is liable to be dismissed.
4. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned Special Government Pleader for the respondents, and perused the material available on record.
5. As rightly pointed out by the learned Special Government Pleader, since the petitioners having his alternate remedy, by filing an appeal before appropriate forum, this writ petition is not maintainable. However, it is open to the petitioners to approach the competent authory for their remedy, along with an appropriate application for condoning the delay in filing such an appeal.
6. In view of the above, the Writ Petition is dismissed.
Consequently, the connected Miscellaneous Petitions are closed. No order as to costs.
21.03.2017
Index: Yes/ No Speaking order/ Non-speaking order avr To
1. The Secretary to Government, Food, Consumer Protection and Cooperative Department, Fort St. George, Chennai-600 009.
2. The Sub Registrar of Co-operative Societies/ Field Officer, S.S.Kulam, Collector Campus, Coimbatore-18.
3. The Secretary, K.2069, Veerakeralam Town Co-operative Credit Society Ltd, No.21/17, Periyathottam Colony, Veerakeralam, Coimbatore-641 007.
D. KRISHNAKUMAR J.
avr W.P. No.31678 of 2016 and W.M.P Nos. 27487 & 27488 of 2016 21.03.2017 http://www.judis.nic.in