An inquiry under the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act must be initiated independently by the Registrar, without external dictation, emphasizing the authority's autonomy.

JUDGMENT

Dated this the 18th day of January, 2023 The petitioner is the President of a Primary Agricultural Co-operative Society functioning in Thrissur District. The 4th respondent, a former Managing Committee Member of the Society, had lodged complaints before the Registrar of Co-operative Societies and the Minister for Co-operation, alleging misappropriation of funds and maladministration by the present Managing Committee members. This resulted in Ext. P4 report of the Assistant Registrar, Chalakudy pointing out certain defects in the functioning of the Society. Referring to Ext. P4 report, the Registrar of Co-operative Societies ordered an inspection under Section 66 of the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act, 1969 ('the Act' for short). The petitioner alleges that the order under (Ext. P5) was issued at the instance of the Registrar of Co-operative Societies, who, in turn, had acted on the dictate of the Minister for Co-operation. In support of this allegation the petitioner relies on Ext. P6 complaint filed by the 4th respondent, wherein an endorsement is made by the Minister, requiring the Registrar to look into the matter. The writ petition is hence filed, seeking the following reliefs;

i. Issue a writ of certiorari calling for the records leading to Ext. P5 and to quash the same;

ii. Issue a writ directing that the direction contained in Ext. P6 and the consequential order issued as per Ext. P5 is the result of dictation taking away the independent right of the statutory functionary and therefore bad in law;

iii. Grant such other reliefs as this Court deems fit in the facts and circumstances of the case.

2. Senior Advocate Gerorge Poonthottam appearing for the petitioners contended that Ext. P5 order is ex facie illegal, being an order passed under dictation. It is submitted that, under the scheme of the Act, the Government and the Co-operative Department has minimal role and if a Section 65 inquiry or a Section 66 inspection is to be ordered, that can be done only on the basis of the satisfaction arrived at by the Registrar, based on the available materials. On the contrary, in spite of no major defect being pointed out in Ext. P4 report of the Assistant Registrar, an inspection under was ordered, based merely on the dictate of the Minister for Co- operation communicated through the Registrar. In order to buttress the contention that an inquiry cannot be ordered on the basis of the Minister's direction or endorsement, reliance is placed on the decisions inKottayam Co-op. Bank Ltd. v. State of Kerala ( 1988 (1) KLT 827 ), Panicker Kadavu Consumer Co-op. Society Ltd. v. Registrar of Co-op. Societies ( 1994 KHC 387 ), Managing Committee of Kandalloor Farmers Service Co-operative Bank Ltd. v. Joint Registrar of Co-operative Societies and Another ( 2008 (4) KHC 618 ) andCalicut City Service Co-op. Bank Ltd. v. Registrar of Co-operative Societies, Tvm. And Ors. ( 2010 (2) KHC 154 ).

3. Adv.P.P. Thajudeen, the Special Government Pleader (Co-operation), refuted the contention that Ext. P5 is an order passed under dictation and submitted that, merely because a complaint filed before the Hon'ble Minister was forwarded to the Registrar, who in turn had sent it to the Joint Registrar to do the needful, Ext.P5 cannot be termed as an order under dictation. A reading of Ext. P5 would show that the direction to conduct inspection under Section 66 was ordered by the Joint Registrar based on the preliminary report filed by the Assistant Registrar and being convinced about the need for conducting the inspection.

4. As contended by the Senior Counsel, it is settled law that an order passed under dictation by an authority, which is statutorily bound to pass the order independently and on self- satisfaction, is ex facie illegal. InKottayam Co-op. Bank Ltd. (supra) the Minister for Co-operation had endorsed a note to the Registrar of Co-operative Societies to call for an urgent report from the Joint Registrar within 15 days and to direct th