Kulen Medhi and Anr v. The State of Assam and 5 Ors

ORDER

24.11.2023 Heard Shri D. Das, learned counsel for the petitioners. Also heard Shri S.K. Talukdar, learned Standing Counsel, Cooperation Department.

¶2This matter has been taken up for motion out of turn on the basis of a mentioning done this morning terming the matter to be urgent in nature.

¶3The petitioners who are two in numbers claim that they are shareholders of the City Cooperative Bank Limited, Guwahati (hereinafter the Bank).

¶4The grievance of the petitioners is in respect of an order dated 10.10.2023 passed by the Registrar of the Cooperative Societies, Assam by which the Page No.# 3/4 Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies was appointed as the Inspecting Officer to conduct a detailed inspection into the overall functioning of the Bank with special emphasis on the issues raised in the petition dated 06.08.2023. The Inspecting Officer was directed to submit his report within 15 days and was to be assisted by two other officers of the Department.

¶5The grievance of the petitioner is that the aforesaid inspection has been directed on the basis of a complaint lodged by certain persons who are not connected with the affairs of the Bank in question and in this connection, reliance has been made on an Office Memorandum dated 18.10.2013. It is submitted by Shri Das, the learned counsel that by the said Office Memorandum, guidelines has been laid down with regard to complaints in Ministry/ Departments wherein a stipulation is also there not to take any action on anonymous complaints.

¶6Shri Talukdar, learned counsel for the Department however submits that apart from the fact that the petitioners may not have the locus to maintain the writ petition, the inspection was directed to be completed within 15 days vide the order dated 10.10.2023 and as on today, more than a month has passed and therefore for all practical purposes, there is no cause of action to be adjudicated. He further submits that the aforesaid order dated 10.10.2023 has been passed in exercise of powers under Section 88 sub Section 1 of the Assam Cooperative Act, 2007 and no issues has been raised with regard to the competence of the registrar.

¶7The rival submissions have been considered.

Page No.# 4/4

¶8The status of the petitioners qua the respondent Bank is that they are shareholders. However, what intrigues this Court is the cause of action, if any, which can be espoused by two shareholders with regard to inspection on the activities of the respondent Bank. Though a submission has been made that the inspection has been done on certain complaints by persons who do not have any stake in the Bank, the power under which the inspection has been done has been directed is a statutory power which can also be exercised suo moto.

¶9This Court has further noted that while 15 days time was granted to submit the inspection report vide the impugned order dated 10.10.2023, more than a month has passed and therefore this writ petition is otherwise also without any cause of action.

¶10This Court is also having grave doubts on the bona fide of the two petitioners to raise the issue of challenging an inspection on the overall functioning of the Bank in question which is otherwise necessary to be done on a routine manner of a financial institution.

¶11In view of the above, this Court is of the opinion that no enforceable right has been violated and accordingly the writ petition is dismissed.

¶12Considering the facts involved and the background, this Court also imposes a cost of Rs. 10,000/- (Rupees Ten Thousand) only from the petitioners to be paid in the name of Gauhati High Court Bar Association Welfare Fund. JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010267332023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/6856/2023o KULENoMEDHIoANDoANRo SONoOFoLATEoRAMESHoCHANDRAoMEDHI,oRESIDENToOFoHOUSEoNO.7,o RAJGARHoROAD,oBYoLANEoNO.2,oGUWAHATI-o781003,oPOLICEoSTATION-o CHANDMARI,oDISTRICT-oKAMRUPoMETROPOLITAN,oASSAM 2:oPRADIPoKUMARoBARMAN oSONoOFoLATEoKHAGENDRAoNATHoBARMAN oRESIDENToOFoHOUSEoNO.o94 oMANIKoNAGAR oR.G.oBARUAHoROAD oGUWAHATI-o781005 oPOLICEoSTATION-oDISPUR oDISTRICT-oKAMRUPoMETROPOLITAN oASSAo VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo5oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoADDITIONALoCHIEFoSECRETARY,oCOOPERATIONo DEPARTMENT,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-o781006 2:REGISTRARoOFoCOOPERATIVEoSOCIETIES oASSAM oKHANAPARA oGUWAHATI-o781022 3:MD.oNEZAMUDDINoTALUKDAR oCHAIRMANo(INoCHARGE)oANDoONEoMANoCOMMITTEE oTHEoCOOPERATIVEoCITYoBANKoLIMITED oU.N.oBEZBARUAHoROAD oSILPUKHURI oGUWAHATI-o781003 4:SHRIoNILUTPALoGOHAIN Page No.# 2/4 DEPUTY REGISTRAR OF COOPERATIVE SOCIETIES HEAD OFFICE KHANAPARA GUWAHATI- 781022 5:THE COOPERATIVE CITY BANK LIMITED REPRESENTED BY ITS MANAGING DIRECTOR U.N. BEZBARUAH ROAD SILPUKHURI GUWAHATI- 781003 6:THE COOPERATIVE CITY BANK EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION REPRESENTED JOINTLY BY ITS PRESIDENT AND GENERAL SECRETARY U.N. BEZBARUAH ROAD SILPUKHURI GUWAHATI- 78100 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. DITUL DAS Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR MEDHI