Panchshila Co-Operative House Building Society Ltd v. Govt of NCT of Delhi

BADAR DURREZ AHMED, J

VEENA BIRBAL, J SEPTEMBER 15, 2009 SR

THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI % Judgment delivered on: 15.09.2009 + WP(C) 11663/2009 PANCHSHILA CO-OPERATIVE HOUSE BUILDING SOCIETY LTD ......Petitioner - Versus - GOVT OF NCT OF DELHI ….Respondent Advocates who appeared in this case:- For the Petitioner : Mr B. S. Chauhan For the Respondent /RCS : Mr Sanjeev Sabharwal For the Respondent /GNCT : Mr Shoaib Haider for Mr N. Waziri For the Complainant : Mr C. M. Lal CORAM:- HON'BLE MR JUSTICE BADAR DURREZ AHMED HON'BLE MR JUSTICE VEENA BIRBAL 1. Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment ? 2. To be referred to the Reporter or not ? 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in Digest ? BADAR DURREZ AHMED (ORAL) 1. With the consent of the parties, this writ petition is taken up for final disposal. The petitioner is aggrieved by the order dated 28.08.2009 passed by the Deputy Registrar (South) in the Office of the Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Delhi. The order purports to be one passed under Section 61(1) of the Delhi Cooperative Societies Act, 2003 (hereinafter referred o as the "said Act"). A plain reading of the order indicates that the Office of the Registrar of Cooperative Societies received representations from several members vide letters dated 29.06.2009, 03.07.2009, 12.07.2009 and 14.07.2009 complaining about the management of the society. Several allegations have been outlined in the order dated 28.08.2009. Ultimately, the Deputy Registrar (South) passed the following order:- "Now therefore the Registrar, Cooperative Societies after satisfying himself is pleased to appoint Shri C R Garg, DIG, Central Prison, New Delhi to inspect the relevant record of Panchshila CHBS Ltd under Section 61(1) of DCS Act 2003 to verify the allegations made by the petitioner as stated hereinabove. Shri Garg is requested to submit report within a period of 15 days from the issue of this order. Shri Garg will be paid an honorarium of Rs 15,000/- (rupees fifteen thousand only) out of the funds of the society." 2. The petitioner society is aggrieved by the said order and, therefore, filed this writ petition. Several grounds have been taken by the petitioner society. One of the grounds is that the pre-conditions of Section 61(1) have not been met. Section 61 pertains to inspection of Cooperative Societies and the relevant portion of which reads as under:- "61. Inspection of co-operative societies. (1) The Registrar may, on the request made by a creditor or, not less than one-thirds of the members of the committee, or not less than one-fifths of the total number of members, of a co-operative society, undertake inspection of a co- operative society or class of co-operative societies by general or special order in writing and authorise any person by order in writing in this behalf, to make an inspection into the constitution, working and financial condition of a co-operative society. PROVIDED that where a serious complaint is made by a member or a public servant in writing about the affairs of a co-operative society or committee or office bearers, to the Registrar or to any person authorized by him in this regard not below the rank of Joint Registrar and if the Registrar is prima-facie satisfied, after recording his views in writing and affording an opportunity to the person against whom complaint has been made, he may order an inspection in respect of only issue or issues as the case may be, raised in the complaint and the inspection shall be conducted by a person not below the rank of an Assistant Registrar. (2) xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx (3) xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx (4) xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx" It is apparent that in the normal course of events, an inspection may be undertaken at the direction of the Registrar only upon a request made either by (a) a creditor; or (b) not less than one-third of the members of the committee; or (c) not less than one-fifth of the total number of members of a cooperative society. In the present case, none of these pre-conditions are fulfilled an