JUDGMENT

C.K. THAKKER, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. The present appeal is directed against judgment and order passed by the Division Bench of the High Court of Chhattisgarh on May 04, 2005 in Writ Petition No. 283 of 2001. By the said order, the High Court dismissed the Writ Petition filed by the appellant-petitioner and confirmed the order passed by the Madhya Pradesh State Co-operative Tribunal, Bhopal on January 22, 2001 in Second Appeal No. 560 of 1999.

3. Short facts giving rise to the present appeal are that the appellant herein was working as Manager in the Large Area Multi- Purpose Society (`LAMPS for short). Between August, 1977 and August, 1981, the appellant was the Manager in the Schedule Tribe Service Co-operative Society, Kanker. He, at that time, committed financial irregularities. Disciplinary proceedings were initiated against him and by an order dated April 29, 1982, passed by the Chairman, District Co-operative Central Bank Ltd., Jagdalpur (Bastar), he was removed from service. The appellant preferred a departmental appeal on April 30, 1982. Since he had not been communicated anything as to what had happened to the said appeal, the appellant on June 30, 1982 filed an application under Section 55 of the Madhya Pradesh Co- operative Societies Act, 1960 (hereinafter referred to as `the Act) to the Joint Registrar, Co-operative Societies, Raipur. According to the appellant, the application was made to the Joint Registrar, Raipur as District Bastar/Jagdalpur was within the territorial jurisdiction of Raipur. As stated by the petitioner, Joint Registrar then came to be appointed for District Bastar for Jagdalpur Area. Another application was, therefore, made on October 08, 1985 by the petitioner before the Joint Registrar, Co-operative Societies, Jagdalpur. On February 19, 1986, the Joint Registrar, Jagdalpur dismissed the application filed by the petitioner as time barred. The appellant preferred an appeal against the said order before the Board of Revenue, Gwalior. However, the said appeal was also dismissed by the Board on June 14, 1990.

4. On October 22, 1990, the application filed by the petitioner on June 30, 1982 before the Joint Registrar, Raipur was forwarded to Deputy Registrar, Kanker for adjudication. The Deputy Registrar, Kanker treated the case as within the period of limitation, considered it on merits and set aside the order of removal vide his order dated May 18, 1994. He also directed the Bank to pay all dues to the applicant.

5. The respondent Bank challenged the said order by approaching the State Co- operative Tribunal. The Tribunal allowed the appeal filed by the Bank on the ground of res judicata observing that an application filed by the appellant was dismissed by Joint Registrar, Jagdalpur and the said order was confirmed by the Board of Revenue, Gwalior dismissing the appeal which had become final.

6. The appellant being aggrieved by the order passed by the Tribunal preferred Writ Petition No. 283 of 2001 in the High Court of Chhatisgarh, which as stated above, was dismissed by the High Court. The said order is challenged in the present appeal.

7. On July 06, 2006, notice was issued to the respondents. Affidavit-in-reply and affidavit-in-rejoinder were thereafter filed. An order was passed directing the Registry to place the matter for final hearing and that is how the matter has been placed before us.

8. We have heard the learned counsel for the parties.

9. The learned counsel for the appellant contended that the Tribunal as well as the High Court were wrong in dismissing the claim of the appellant. It was contended that the Tribunal was not right in holding that the appeal filed by the appellant was barred by res judicata. The High Court was, therefore, right in observing that the Tribunal committed an error of law in treating the appeal as barred by res judicata. The High Court, however, went wrong in not allowing the writ petition and in coming to the conclusion that the application filed by