Mr. Satish Kumar Mittal, J.: - This judgment shall dispose of CWP Nos. 4922 of 1989, 14997 of 1989 and 3985 of 2011.

CWP No.4922 of 1989

This writ petition has been filed by 86 petitioners, who are residents of village Bhagupura, Tehsil Patti, District Amritsar, challenging the order dated 24.8.1988, whereby the revision petition filed by some of the members of the Cheema Co-operative Agricultural Service Society Limited, who are residents of villages Cheema, Bhagupura and Barwala, against the order dated 30.10.1987 passed by the Assistant Registrar, Cooperative Societies, ordering the bifurcation of the Cheema Co-operative Agricultural Service Society Limited, was allowed by the Commissioner (Appeals), Jalandhar Division (exercising the powers of the State Government), setting aside the said order.

2. In this case, the Assistant Registrar, Co-operative Societies, while exercising the powers of the Registrar, and in view of the Circular dated 19.8.1987 issued by the Registrar, Co-operative Societies, Punjab, for reconstruction of Primary Co-operative Agricultural Service Society, passed the order of bifurcation of the Cheema Co-operative Agricultural Service Society Limited under Section 13(8) of the Punjab Co-operative Societies Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Punjab Act’) into two Societies, i.e., Cheema Co-operative Agricultural Service Society Limited, the area of operation of which shall be in villages Cheema and Barwala; and the Bhagupur Co-operative Agricultural Service Society Limited, Bhagupur, the area of which shall be in villages Bhagupur, Assol and Sangwan.

3. Some of the members of the parent Cheema Co-operative Agricultural Service Society Limited, who were having grouse against the above-said bifurcation order, challenged the said order by filing revision under Section 69 of the Punjab Act, before the State Government. The Commissioner, Appeals (exercising the powers of the State Government), allowed the said revision petition and set aside the order dated 30.10.1987 passed by the Assistant Registrar while coming to the conclusion that without calling and holding the General Body meeting of the parent Society and considering the objections filed by some of the members, the order of bifurcation could not have been passed. The said order was challenged in the aforesaid writ petition by some of the members, who are residents of village Bhagupur.

4. At the time of motion hearing, while relying upon a Division Bench decision of this Court in Hardial Singh, Manager the Shahabad Farmers Co-operative Marketing-cum-Processing Society Ltd. v. State of Haryana through Secretary, Co-operative Societies, Haryana, Chandigarh and others, 1975(1) S.L.R. 55, a contention was raised that against the order of the Assistant Registrar, Co-operative Societies bifurcating the Society under Section 13(8) of the Punjab Act, no revision under Section 69 of the said Act was maintainable because under that Section, the revision is maintainable only on the application made by a person, who is party to a reference under Section 55 of the Punjab Act, and the Government cannot suo motu exercise the revisional power on a revision filed by the persons, who are not party to the reference. The learned Division Bench, while considering some of the observations made by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in The Everest Apartments Co-operative Housing Society Ltd.. Bombay v. State of Maharashtra and others, AIR 1966 S.C. 1449, doubted the correctness of the view taken by the Division Bench in Hardial Singh’s case (supra) and admitted the writ petition to the Full Bench, and passed the following order:-

“ The revisional power contained in Section 69 of the Punjab Cooperative Socieities Act, 1961, appears to be very wide as per terms of the statute but that power has been restricted in Hardayal Singh vs State of Haryana, 1975 (1) S.L.R. 55, by a Divisional Bench of this Court. It is undisputed that if State Government exercises suo moto powe