Judgement

BHARGAVA, J. : The appellant in this appeal, brought up by special leave, is the Northern Railway Co-operative Credit Society Ltd., Jodhpur (hereinafter referred to as "the Society") which is an Association of the employees of the Northern Railway at Jodhpur registered in 1920 under the Co-operative Societies Act. The Society had in its employment 10 or 11 persons including Kanraj Mehta, the Head Clerk, Madho Lal, the Accountant, and three other Clerks, A. C. Sharma, V. D. Sharma and G. S. Sexena. At a meeting of the Committee of Management held on 6th April 1956, it was decided to hold the 36th and 37th Annual General Meeting of the Shareholders for years 1953-54 and 1954-55 on 28th April 1956, i. e., after a period of about 22 days. Thereafter, Kanraj Mehta, the Head Clerk, on 8th April 1956, applied for leave on medical grounds, having submitted a certificate from a registered Vaid. Initially, the application for leave was for four days, but, by subsequent applications, he continued to extend his leave up to 2nd May 1956. The other four Clerks, mentioned above, also put in applications between 12th and 15th April 1956 on similar Medical Certificates and continued their