Government servants cannot resist salary deductions for cooperative dues based on non-membership; obligations to enforce recovery exist irrespective of membership status.

1 Can a Government servant resist recovery from his salary made at the request of a Cooperative Society on the ground that he is not a member of the Society?

2 Petitioner presently working as a Village Extension Officer is aggrieved by the steps initiated by the third respondent, for recovering certain amounts from his salary as per requisition made by the second respondent. The requisition is made under S.37 of the Kerala Cooperative Societies Act. The contention is that the recovery under S.37 can be made only from a member of the Society. The petitioner is not a member of the first respondent Society. Therefore, it is submitted that he cannot be proceeded against under S.37. Sri. P.B. Suresh Kumar, learned counsel appearing for the first respondent submits that the said question need not be considered in this case since the petitioner being a Government Servant is governed by Art.89(3) of the Financial Code.

3 Art.89(3) of the Financial Code, to the extent relevant reads as follows:--
Deduction of amounts due to Cooperative Societies.-- Where the Acts under which Cooperative Societies are registered impose a statutory obligation on Government to make recoveries from the salary of Government servants on account of dues to such Societies and also provide for the execution of an agreement by members in favour of the Societies requiring employer to make such recoveries, it shall be obligatory on the part of Drawing and Disbursing Officers/Treasury Officers to recover such dues. The amount shown in the requisition in writing received from the Cooperative Societies shall be recovered in accordance with the following procedure:--
(a) Where the whole or a part of the attachable portion of the salary of the Government employee concerned is already under attachment, the recoveries on account of the demands from Cooperative Societies shall be made from that portion of his salary as is not liable to attachment under the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.
(b) Where the Government servant draws his own bills, it shall be the duty of the Head of the Office receiving the requisition from the Cooperative Society to send the necessary intimation to the Treasury Officer or other Disbursing Officer concerned. On receipt of such intimation the Treasury officer or other Disbursing Officer shall make recoveries from the salary of the officer and the amounts thus recovered shall be paid to the Cooperative Society without undue delay after deducting remittance charges, if any.
(c) In the case of non gazetted Government servants, on receipt of the requisition in writing from the Society, it shall be the duty of the Drawing and Disbursing Officer of the Government servant concerned to make the recoveries in satisfaction of the requisition. The Drawing and Disbursing Officer shall draw the gross amount of pay and allowances of the Government servant concerned, in the usual manner, but should disburse only the net amount after making recoveries. The amount thus recovered should be paid to the Cooperative Society concerned without undue delay after deducting the remittance charges, if any.
d) In cases where the Government servant concerned intentionally allows his pay to remain undisbursed or undrawn with a view to evading payment on account of dues to cooperative societies, the administrative head of the Department concerned should draw the pay of the debtor employee under intimation to him, in satisfaction of the requisition received from the Cooperative Society and remit the amount to the Society, without undue delay, after deducting the remittance charges, if any.

4 S.37 of the Kerala Cooperative Societies Act reads as follows:--
"Deduction from salary to meet Society's claim in certain cases:--
(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force, a member of a Society, may execute an agreement in favour of the Society providing that his employer or the officer disbursing his salary or wages shall be competen