Murugesu V. Amerasinghe Et Al.,

1951 Present. Nagalingam J.

MURUGESU, Petitioner, and AMERASINGHE et al, Respondents

S. C. 451-In the Matter of an Application for a Writ of Prohibition

Writ of Prohibition-Dispute between Co-operative Society and employee-Reference to arbitration-Co-operative Societies Ordinance, No. 16 of 1986-. s. 45 (2)- Jurisdiction of arbitrators challenged-Necessary parties to application for writ.

A dispute between the petitioner and a Co-operative Society was referred to arbitration by the Registrar of Co-operative Societies. In an application made by the petitioner for a Writ of Prohibition alleging that the dispute between him and the Co-operative Society was not such as could have been referred to .. arbitration under section 45 (2) of the Co-operative Societies Ordinance and that the Board of Arbitrators were usurping to themselves powers which had not been legally vested in them-

Held, that the Co-operative Society was a necessary party to the application and that the failure to make the Society a party was a fatal irregularity.

THIS was a Writ of Prohibition against a Board of Arbitrators appointed by the Registrar of Co-operative Societies under section 45 (2) of the Co operative Societies Ordinance.

H. V. Perera, K.C., with C. Shanmuganayagam, for the petitioner.

C. Thiagalingam, K.C., with E. B. S. B. Coomaraswamy, for the party noticed.

H. W. R. Weerasooriya, Acting Solicitor-General, with E. H. C. Jayetileke, Crown Counsel, for the Registrar of Co-operative Societies.

Cur. adv. vult.

 February 27, 1951. NAGALINGAM J.-

This is an application for a Writ of Prohibition. A preliminary objection has been taken to the application on the ground that the party whose interests would be affected if the application were granted has not been made a party and that the application must therefore fail.

The facts, so far as they are material lor a consideration of the preliminary point, are The petitioner who is the applicant for the writ was in the service of the Northern Division Agricultural Producers' Co-operative Union, Ltd., a Society registered under the Co-operative Societies-Ordinance, No. 16 of 1936, and hereinafter referred to as the Union. Certain disputes arose between the petitioner and the Union in regard to a claim amounting to a sum of Rs. 42,593.12 made by the Union against the petitioner. Pursuant to the provisions of section 45 of the Ordinance the Union referred the dispute to the Registrar of Co-operative Societies who by virtue of. the powers vested in him by sub-section 2 of the same section referred it for disposal to a Board of Arbitrators, the composition of which suffered a change and at the dates relevant to the present application the first three respondents constituted the Board of Arbitrators.

The petitioner's case for the Writ is based upon the allegation that the disputes between him and the Union are not such as could have formed the subject of proceedings under section 45 of the Ordinance and that the Board of Arbitrators in entering upon the arbitration proceedings were usurping to themselves powers which had not been legally vested in them. To his application the petitioner named four respondents, the first three being, as remarked earlier, the three arbitrators and the fourth being the Registrar of Co-operative Societies. The Union has not been made a party respondent.

At the hearing of this application the arbitrators did not enter appearance. The 4th respondent, however, was represented by the learned Acting Solicitor-General, who put forward the contention that neither the 4th respondent nor the arbitrators were interested in the result of the application but the party who would be affected by the grant of the application would be the Union and that as the Union had not been made a party the application could not be entertained by Court. The learned Acting Solicitor-General also submitted that it was o

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