Mandamus cannot compel an employer to deduct loan repayments from salaries, but existing agreements must be honored.

JUDGMENT

The prayer in this original petition is to declare that Ext.P1 memorandum is unsustainable and is liable to be quashed. There is also a prayer for a direction to the respondents to recover and permit monthly instalments as requisitioned by the petitioner Society in time as provided under Section 37 of the Kerala Cooperative Societies Act , 1969 and as declared in Ext.P7 judgment.

2. The petitioner is a Co-operative Society registered under the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act, 1969 (hereinafter referred to as the KCS Act). The members of the Society are employees of the KSRTC. The Society grants loan to the employees and the monthly instalments towards repayment of the loans are remitted to the Society by the KSRTC on the basis of an agreement, whereby the employee has consented for deducting the amount towards the instalments from his salary. The remittances were made initially, but later became very irregular. The grievance of the petitioner is that even though amounts are deducted from the salary of the employees, corresponding remittances are not made towards the loan accounts and the amounts are held back by the KSRTC.

3. The petitioner submits that when there is a default in the payment, the option left to the Society is to prefer an arbitration case under Section 69 of the KCS Act. After obtaining an award, execution applications are filed, and directions have also been issued for recovering the amount from the principal debtor and from his salary. The agreements between the Society and the KSTRC are governed by Section 37 of the KCS Act. The issue regarding non-payment by the KSRTC has come up before this Court on earlier occasions also. In the Judgment dated 05.04.2002 in OP No. 37952 of 2001 , this Court had considered the issue and directed the KSRTC to make the payments immediately.

The Court stated the prejudice that has been caused due to the delay in paying the amounts in time, both to the Society as well as to the employees, and observed that they are free to work out their remedies either before the Civil Court or before the arbitrator under the KCS Act.

4. Ext.P1 is a memorandum which has been issued on 18.06.2025 by the KSRTC stating that they will no longer deduct any amount from the salary of the employee and remit to the Society. While considering the legality of Ext.P1, details of certain other proceedings are necessary to be stated. This Court had, in several writ petitions, issued directions to the KSRTC to pay the amounts due to the Society. There were also writ petitions in which the employees had approached the Court stating that amounts have been deducted from their salaries but not remitted to the Societies towards their loan amounts. When the directions were not complied with, contempt petitions had also been filed. While dealing with a batch of writ petitions cases, this Court had after hearing the parties felt that, since the KSRTC was not performing their obligation to pay the amounts which have been collected from the employees to the Co-Operative Societies as per the agreement, it will be beneficial for the employees if they are paid the entire salary and they can make the remittances to the Societies themselves. This Court had hence directed the KSRTC not to deduct any amount from the salaries of the employees. Even though the direction was well intended, it so happened that the amounts due to the Societies were not remitted either by the KSRTC or by the employees. Taking cue from the directions issued by this Court, the KSRTC issued Ext.P1 memorandum. In Ext.P1 memorandum, the KSRTC apart from saying that amounts will not be deducted also stated that from henceforth salary certificates will not be issued for the purpose of availing of loans. That is to say that the undertakin