Non-impleadment of a necessary party, specifically the aggrieved Co-operative Society in an appeal against a surcharge order, violates the principles of natural justice and renders the resulting tribunal order legally unsustainable.

ORDER

This Civil Revision Petition has been filed challenging the judgment and decree dated 21.04.2023 passed in C.M.A. No. 51 of 2018 by the Presiding Officer / Chief Judge, Special Tribunal for Cooperative Cases, Court of Small Causes, Chennai.

2. Briefly the facts of the case are that the first respondent herein was employed as a Pharmacist in a medical shop run by the petitioner Co-operative Society. During the relevant period, certain medicines supplied to the medical shops became time-barred/expired, resulting in alleged loss to the Society. An enquiry was thereafter conducted under Section 81 of the Tamil Nadu Co- operative Societies Act, 1983. The case of the Society was that the loss had occurred due to failure on the part of the concerned employees, including the first respondent, to identify and return the expired medicines within time. On the other hand, the first respondent contended that the purchase, distribution and return of the medicines were under the control of the Special Officers/Management of the Society and that a Pharmacist employed in the medical shop could not be held personally responsible for the alleged loss. Based on the findings of the enquiry officer, surcharge proceedings under Section 87 of the Tamil Nadu Co-operative Societies Act, 1983 were initiated against the first respondent and others for the alleged loss caused to the Society and surcharge orders were passed by fastening the liability upon the first respondent. Aggrieved by the same, the first respondent herein, T. Aruna, approached the Special Tribunal for Cooperative Cases, Chennai, by way of an appeal in C.M.A. No. 51 of 2018, seeking to set aside the said surcharge order. By an order dated 21.04.2023, the Tribunal disposed of the said appeal, by setting aside the surcharge order passed under Section 87 of the Tamil Nadu Co-operative Societies Act, 1983.

3. The present Civil Revision Petition is preferred primarily on the ground that the petitioner Co-operative Society was not impleaded as a party to the proceedings in C.M.A. No. 51 of 2018 before the Special Tribunal for Cooperative Cases, Chennai.

4. The learned counsel for the petitioner places strong reliance on the orders passed by this Court in C.R.P. Nos. 3267, 1935, and 1936 of 2022. In those cases, which were identically disposed of by this Court, it was observed that the Co-operative Society concerned had not been made a party to the statutory appeals filed under Section 152 of the Act. The relevant portions of the said orders read as under:

"6. Unfortunately, the Appeal under Section 152 of the Act was filed without impleading the revision petitioner Cooperative Society as a party. Non-impleadment of the Cooperative Society in the Appeal before the Cooperative Tribunal is vital and it vitiates the entire proceeding, since they are the necessary party to the Appeal, more so, when the financial irregularities and illegalities occurred in the revision petitioner / Cooperative Society.7. When the revision petitioner / Cooperative Society is the aggrieved person and the surcharge proceedings are initiated to recover the loss occurred in the petitioner/ Cooperative Society, there cannot be an Appeal without impleading the aggrieved Cooperative Society in favour of whom the surcharge proceedings are initiated under Section 87 of the Act. It goes to the root of the matter. The Society is not a formal party; they are a necessary party and, more so, an aggrieved person in the eye of law. That being the factum, the Cooperative Tribunal also failed to notice this, which hits the principles of Audi Alteram Partem and passed an order against which the present revision petition is filed.”

5. In the instant case, since the petiti