High Court Of Madhya Pradesh
Bishambhar Dayal, C. J. and K. L. Pandey, J.
KRISHNA KUMARI - Appellant
Versus
BOARD OF REVENUE, MADHYA PRADESH, GWALIOR - Respondents
Misc. Petn. 569 Of 1968
Decided On : 02/08/1971
On the analysis of section 63 (1) of the Act it is clear that liability can be imposed on those persons who have a hand either in the organisation or in the management of the Society.
The section further provides that the acts which will lead to an order under the Act must be such that the persons concerned can be said to have-
(i) misapplied any money or property of the society;
(ii) retained any money or property of the society.
(iii) become liable or accountable for any money or property of the society; or
(iv) been guilty of misfeasance or breach of trust in relation to the society.
In respect of the acts which were done before the Society was formed, there can absolutely be no doubt that those acts cannot fall in any of these categories, namely, misfeasance or breach of trust in relation to the Society. [Para 5
(2) Co operative Societies Act, 1960 (M.P.) -S 63-scope and interpretation of.
While interpreting section 63 of the Act it is also worth noting that large powers and powers not precisely defined have been given to the Registrar to impose liability for the payment of any amount and the only appeal provided against such an order is one to the State Government. There is no remedy available against such an order before any judicial tribunal. Such a power in the Registrar of Co-operative Societies must necessarily be construed very strictly and he can be held to have the power to impose liabilities which comes within the strict words of the section. [Para 6
(3) Co operative Societies Act, 1960 (M.P.)-S. 63-fixing of amount of money as liability actual loss to the Society is to be compensated.
With regard to the payment of money the Registrar can order such an amount as he thinks is necessary 'by way of compensation.' This term 'by way of compensation' refers to some loss suffered by the Society which has to be compensated. Therefore, the Registrar can have power to order payment of money by way of compensation only if it is proved that the Society suffered a loss on account of the act of the person against whom the order is made.
Where the Society had no assets, no loss can be ca used to its property. 1968 RN 603 reversed. [Para 6
( 1 ) THIS is a petition by eight persons who were Directors of the Gwalior commercial Cooperative Bank, Gwalior (hereinafter referred to as the Cooperative society), which is now under liquidation. The facts in short which have given rise to this petition are that according to the petitioners one Shri Jagan prasad was running a bank called the Gwalior Bank at Gwalior. He was the sole proprietor thereof and after his death his son became the proprietor. In August 1955 it was decided to form a co-operative society and to transfer the assets and liabilities of this Bank to that society. The contention of the liquidator, on the other hand, is that this Bank was the joint family property of the petitioners who were members thereof. That question appears to have been assumed by the Deputy registrar and the Board of Revenue, without deciding it on evidence, in favour of the liquidator. However nothing much turns on that fact. The Co-operative Society was formed under the Madhya Bharat Co-operative Societies Act, 1954 (Act No. 9 of 1955) (hereinafter referred to as the Act) and it was registered on the 26th August, 1955. Thereafter, the assets and liabilities of the Gwalior Bank as on 30th september, 1955, were transferred to this Co-operative Society on 2nd October, 1955, According to the report of the liquidator, this Co-operative Society continued to work from 1st October, 1955, to 31st May, 1958 and during this period it spent rupees 43,000/- on different items and transacted no other business, so that it is quite clear that the Bank received no bank deposits after it was taken over by the co-operative Society. This Society went into liquidation by order of the Registrar and stopped business from 5th May, 1958. Shri A. H. Sid-diqui. Advocate, was ultimately appointed liquidator and he made an application before the Registrar under Section 63 of the Act asking the Registrar to make an order against the directors of the Bank for recovery of an amount of Rs. 2,35,000/ -. Numerous items were mentioned as recoverable from the Directors. For instance, there were several items which had been advanced by the Gwalior Bank, when it was a private Bank, to individuals which had become time-barred and it was claimed that the Directors were liable to pay the same as they had neglected to recover them. There was again another item in which were in eluded several items which had been given up by the private proprietors of the Bank and this was also said to be recoverable from the Directors. There were several items again which, according to the liquidator, were irrecoverable from the debtors and the Directors were made responsible on the ground that the proprietors of the private Bank, when making the advances, did not make proper enquiries at that time whether it was proper or not to advance the loans and whether they would be recoverable. There are again certain items of money withdrawn from the private Bank and paid to its constituents between the 56th August, 1955 when the Society was registered and 2nd October, 1955, when the Bank was handed over to the Co-operative Society,
( 2 ) AFTER hearing the Directors, the Deputy Registrar, Co-operative Societies, who heard the applications passed an order imposing the liability upon the Directors, who are the petitioners, by his order dated 10th August, 1960. This is the first order challenged in this writ petition. Against this order an appeal was filed before the Government as provided by the Act which was transferred to the Board of revenue. The Board of Revenue heard the appeal. By order dated 10th October, 1968 the Board of Revenue remanded the case to the Deputy Registrar for ascertaining the exact amount which had become irrecoverable in respect of certain loans granted by the private Bank. The Board of Revenue accepted the decision of the Deputy Registrar with regard to other items. Thus, the case has gone back to the Deputy Registrar. It is against this order of the B
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