IMPORTANT POINT
The grievance of appellant that when the expulsion orders passed against him having been set aside, he is entitled to restoration of his original seniority has force. The appellant having deposited the entire amount demanded by the society, is entitled to restoration of his original seniority.

JUDGMENT

G.P. Mathur, J.-Special leave granted.

2. These appeals are directed against a common judgment and order dated 28-2-2001 of a Division Bench of the High Court of Delhi by which large number of writ petitions were decided and, therefore, they are being decided by a common order.

3. A cooperative society known as Rehabilitation Ministry Employees Cooperative House Building Society Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the Society ) was formed in the year 1959. The Society was incorporated with the object of providing plots and houses to the employees and ex-employees of the Ministry of Rehabilitation and its subordinate offices. Out of compensation pool, comprising mainly of evacuee properties as well as properties acquired by Government for rehabilitating displaced persons from Pakistan, some land was allotted to the society by the Department of Rehabilitation by the letter dated 26.5.1970 under the Displaced Persons (Rehabilitation & Compensation) Act, 1954. The society took steps for allotment of plots to its members and in that connection various kinds of disputes regarding disqualification, eligibility, seniority, etc. of the members were raised. These disputes were decided by the Registrar, against whose decision revisions were filed, which were decided by the Financial Commissioner. The decision of the Financial Commissioner was challenged by filing writ petitions by the members of the society and in some cases by the society itself. All these writ petitions have been decided by the common judgment and order dated 28.2.2001 of the High Court, which is the subject matter of challenge in the present appeals.

4. The eligibility of a member to get a plot from the society or his disqualification has to be examined having regard to the provisions of the Delhi Cooperative Societies Rules , 1973 (hereinafter referred to as the Rules ), bye-laws of the society and an earlier litigation concerning allotment of land wherein a settlement had been arrived at during the pendency of a special leave petition in this Court. Rule 25 of the Rules which deals with disqualification reads as under :

"25. Disqualification for Membership.

(1) No person shall be eligible for admission as a member of a co-operative society if he-

(a) has applied to be adjudicated an insolvent or is an undischarged insolvent; or

(b) has been sentenced for any offence other than an offence of a political character or an offence not involving moral turpitude and dishonesty and a period of five years has not elapsed from the date of expiry of the sentence;

(c) in the case of membership of a housing society:-

(i) he owns a residential house or a plot of land for the construction of a residential house in any of the approved or unapproved colonies or other localities in the Union Territory of Delhi, in his own name or in the name of his spouse or any of his dependent children, on leasehold or freehold basis provided that disqualification as laid down in sub-rule (1)(c) (i) shall not be applicable in case of persons who are only co-sharers of joint ancestral properties in congested localities (slum areas) whose share is less than 66.72 sq. metres (80 sq. yards) of land;

(ii) he deals in purchase or sale of immovable properties either as principal or as agent in the Union Territory of Delhi; or

(iii) he or his spouse or any of his dependent children is a member of any other housing society except otherwise permitted by the Registrar.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in the rules or the bye-laws of the co-operative society, if a member becomes, or has already become, subject to any disqualifications specified in sub-rule (1), he shall be deemed to have ceased to be a member from the date when the disqualifications were incurred.

(3) A member who ceases to be a member of a co-operative society under sub-rule (2) shall not be entitled to exercise rights of membershi