Bombay High Court
R.R.Shah
Versus
Janata Consumers Co-op. Society Ltd., Sangli
Decided On:

Headnote:Section 14 - Maharashtra Co - operative Societies Act, 1960 - Section 91 - Limitation Act, 1963 - Section 14 - Dispute under the section Registrar deciding such a dispute - Registrar while adjudicating disputes referred to in Section 91 for all its intents and purposes, was a Court discharging the same functions and in the same manner as a Court of law was expected to do so - Therefore, the Registrar would be a Court - Plaintiff entitled to exclusion of the time in proceedings under Section 93, and the instant suit was held to have been filed within the period of limitation.

       All the aforesaid requisites are present when the Registrar decides a dispute falling under Section 91 of the Maharashtra Co - operative Societies Act, and in view of the aforesaid statutory provisions, it must be held that the Registrar while adjudicating disputes referred to in Section 91 of the Act for all its intents and purposes, is a Court discharging the same functions and in the same manner as a Court of law is expected to do and, therefore, the Registrar would be a Court.

       The same are devoid of any substance and are liable to be negatived. As pointed out hereinabove, it is not possible to hold that the Plaintiff had lacked in his bona fide when he approached the Registrar as the question at the relevant time had not been decided but the same came to be decided and reported in the year 1965 after elaborate discussion on the point. What is really required to be decided for the applicability of Section 14 (2) of the Limitation Act is not whether a particular order passed by the Registrar is an administrative or a judicial order, but what is required to be determined is whether the Registrar was a Court authorised to decide the civil proceedings as contemplated in Section 14 (1) of the Limitation Act.

       If the Registrar on holding that the dispute falls under Section 91 proceeds to decide the said dispute, there would arise no occasion for the Plaintiff to file a suit and take resort to Section 14 of the Limitation Act. It is only in the event of the Registrar holding that the dispute does not lie within the provisions of Section 91 that the question of filing the suit would arise. Hence in my view, even though the order of the Registrar passed under Section 93 (1) that the dispute is one either falling or not falling under Section 91 (1) though of an administrative nature, the Registrar while deciding the said issue acts as a Court within the meaning of Section 14 of the Limitation Act. The fact that the present order was passed by the Deputy Registrar and not by the Registrar in my view, makes no difference as both the Registrar and the Deputy Registrar are statutory appointments under Section 3 and hence both the authorities will be performing statutory functions under the Act.

       It will have to be held that the Plaintiff will be entitled to exclusion of the time spent before the Deputy Registrar in proceedings under Section 93 of the Maharashtra Co - operative Societies Act and consequently the present suit will have to be held to have been filed within the period of limitation.

       For Citation : AIR 1988 Bom 193 : 1988 CTJ 354