IMPORTANT POINT
As per Section 69 of Kerala Co-operative Societies Act 1969, the dispute is to be decided by Co-operative Arbitration Court and Registrar are well defined. Accordingly the Government of Kerala constituted Co-operative Arbitration Court to adjudicate all non-monitory disputes in Co-operative sector

JUDGMENT :

ALEXANDER THOMAS, J.

1. The aforecaptioned Writ Appeal has been filed under Section 5(i) of the Kerala High Court Act by the petitioners in W.P. (C) No. 15529/2020 so as to impugn the judgment dated 17.09.2020 rendered by the learned Single Judge of this Court in the said W.P. (C) relegating the petitioners to seek efficacious alternate remedy available under Section 69(2)(d) of the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act, 1969 and the Rules framed thereunder.

2. Heard Sri. V. Sajith Kumar, learned counsel appearing for the appellants/petitioners in the O.P. Smt. Latha Anand, learned standing counsel for the Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (MILMA) appearing for respondents 1 to 3 and Sri. B. Vinod, learned Senior Government Pleader appearing for R4 and R5. In the nature of the orders proposed to be passed by this Court in this appeal, notice to contesting respondent No. 6 will stand dispensed with.

3. The appellants had filed the above Writ Petition (Civil) seeking direction to respondents 1 to 3 to effect promotions to the appellants as Assistant Manager (P&I) in preference to contesting respondent No. 6 without any consequential benefits and also for a direction so as to order that the said respondents will refrain from regularising promotions overlooking the claims of the petitioners.

4. The learned Single Judge has passed the impugned judgment on 17.09.2020 in the said Writ Petition (Civil) ordering that since the petitioners have got an alternative efficacious statutory remedy in terms of Section 69(2)(d) of the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act, 1969, they are entitled to approach the Co-operative Arbitration Court to adjudicate on any dispute in connection with the employment of Officers and Servants of different classes of societies as mentioned in Section 80(1) of the said Act including their promotion and inter se seniority.

5. The learned Single Judge has also noted that Section 69 of the said Act also excludes the jurisdiction of any Court or authority to deal with a dispute as is referred in that provision. The appellants have argued before the learned Single Judge as well as before us that their prime contention is that the 3rd respondent Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (MILMA) is ‘an other authority’ which would come within the scope and ambit of the definition of “State” as per Article 12 of the Constitution of India and that writ remedy could be invoked by them etc. The learned Single Judge as per the impugned judgment has held that in view of the availability of alternate efficacious statutory remedy, it is for the petitioners to avail the said remedy and even if it is assumed that the respondent body fulfills the definition of “State” as per Article 12 of the Constitution of India, no exceptional circumstances exist so as to warrant interference by resorting to the extraordinary constitutional remedy under Article 226 of the Constitution of India and that at any rate writ proceedings in respect of service matters of the Co-operative Societies, like respondents 1 to 3, need not be entertained by this Court in the proceedings under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

6. Per contra, Smt. Latha Anand, learned standing counsel appearing for respondents 1 to 3 would point out that a Larger Bench of this Court in the decision in Association of Officers' Ksheera Bhavan and Another vs. State of Kerala and Others, 2015 (2) KLJ 410, has held that writ proceedings under Article 226 of the Constitution of India may lie against the Co-operative Society only if there is patent and flagrant violation of the Statutory Rules governing the field, etc.

7. In that regard, it is submitted by Sri. V. Sajith Kumar, learned counsel appearing for the appellants that the Full Bench decision in Association of Officers' Ksheera Bhavan and Another vs. State of Kerala and Others (supra) has left open the issue as to whether or not MILMA would fulfil the definition of “State” under Article 12 of the