IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA
Prakash Srivastava, J
Bengal Secretariat Co-operative Land Mortgage Bank and Housing Society Ltd. and Another v. Sri Aloke Kumar
Co-Operative Case No. 2714 of 2014 | Dispute Case No. 47 of 2002-2003
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. initiation of dispute over the legality of actions taken in cooperative society. (Para 1 , 1 , 2 , 3) |
| 2. assessing the must vs. must not of the compliance with arbitral award. (Para 4 , 8) |
| 3. arguments presented by petitioners regarding compliance with the award. (Para 6 , 10 , 11) |
| 4. court's evaluation of procedural violations and resolutions. (Para 16 , 18) |
| 5. final ruling on the case with reference to art. 227 jurisdiction. (Para 30 , 33) |
1. The opposite party, a member / Director of the petitioner society, instituted a dispute case, bearing Dispute Case No. 47 of 2002-2003, for the following reliefs:
a) Declaring that all actions of the member right from the publication of the notice inviting bids, float of bid documents, the proceedings and resolution in the adjourned Annual General Meeting of the aforesaid Society held on May 5, 2002 accepting the offer of M/s Hi - Rise Apartment Makers Private Limited and acceptance of earnest money and security deposit of Rs.10 lakhs from them and thereafter, were illegal and void; and
b) Permanently restraining the defendants and their men and agents from proceeding further and taking any steps further on the basis of the said illegal resolution; and
c) Costs of the case.
2. Such case was filed before the Registrar, Co - operative Societies and was referred to an arbitrator. The said proceeding culminated in a contested award dated December 21, 2004. The operative portion of the award stood as follows:
"AWARD
1) That the society shall restrain itself from taking any step towards demolishing the existing constructions of the Administrative Building of the society as part of a joint venture with a Private promoter / developer, M/s. Hi Rise Apartment Makers Pvt. Ltd.
2) That special general meeting be called with clear one month's notice ensuring receipts by all the members - discussing the issue in every detail with transparency at every stage being observed to the full, and any resolution taken thereof in favour of the BOD's proposal of this nature be sent to the Registrar of Cooperative Societies, West Bengal for his approval as required under R.149 (11) of W.B.C.S. Rules, 1987. "
The petitioner preferred against the aforesaid award an appeal, bearing no. 7 of 2005, before the West Bengal Cooperative Tribunal, which was dismissed for default on March 24, 2006 in the presence of the present opposite party.
The award - holder / opposite party put the said award into execution by filing an application under S.151, read with Order XXI R.32 (5) of the Code of Civil Procedure, thereby giving rise to Arbitration Execution Case No. 19 of 2009 before the Civil Judge (Senior Division), Ninth Court at Alipore, District: South 24 - Parganas.
The award - debtor / petitioner contested the same by filing a written objection thereto.
The award - debtor also filed a petition for putting up the execution petition to decide maintainability of the same.
An order of attachment was passed in the execution case.
3. The Civil Judge (Senior Division), took up all pending applications, including the application challenging maintainability of the execution case and, vide order dated April 17, 2014, held that the execution case was still maintainable in law since the award was yet to be satisfied at the instance of the award debtor / Society.
4. The order of attachment, passed in the meantime, was also vacated.
5. Being dissatisfied with the said order dated April 17, 2014, the petitioner Society and its Secretary have preferred the instant application under Art.227 of the Constitution of India.
6. Learned Senior Advocate appearing for the petitioners argues that both the components of the arbitral award have been satisfied in the meantime. The Society cancelled its agreement with M/s Hi - Rise Apartment Makers Private Limited and has entered into a new agreement regarding construction of the administrative building of the Society. It was further argued that, in any event, a special general meeting had been called
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