Karnataka High Court
B Manjunatha S/O Dugga vs The Assistant Registrar Of on 10 January, 2012
Author: S.Abdul Nazeer
Bench: S.Abdul Nazeer
gr This Writ Petition is filed underiArtiielesii22o~&' Constitution of India, praying togquash the order dated .l9.l.2'Q08t passed by the 13' respondent vide Annextlre '"A'e,__ etc; "
This Writ Petition comin on..for"Preliminari' ' Heyariri in 'B' , g g 3 . _ Y g Group this day, the Court passed the foll'o.wi.ng:.. The petitioner is arrnerribger"o&fr..thei'.B.hia'rath Co--operative Bank (Mumhai)i'--..Lintji_ted,'the is-cecon._d respondent herein! having its branch Qffi.9e l_3:iangalQre.,i'The second respondent is registered under of the Multi«State Co--operative Societies A'ct_,_' ('.iAct' short). The petitioner had availed _ g iivfinancialii from the second respondent--society. the ipetiti"en_er failed to repay the amount to the society, it Section 84 of the Act against the petitioner andiiitwoi"iisureties, namely, Mr.Shankar Rao Sindhey and Mr. l\i{1alli.l<&ariuna M.R. The dispute was referred to arbitration wherein rrgwag numbered as AR/AHN/BCB./KHR/71/()7. The Arbitrator has i "passed an award as per Annexure 'A' dated 19.1.2008 holding that the petitioner and two other gifarantors are jointly and severally liable to pay a sum of ?l,37,lO2/- to the society. The"pet:i_tion*erv'l1as called in question the validity of the said'~.award this writ" petitti0qn'iii.s_'
2. Learned Counsel for thqevj4gi:ipcti'tim:,er .c'ont_e:;idg:AvvVithat the award passed by the illegal. It is contended that the payments made by the Siibstantial amount has already b_<_'/<"§V11:v society. The rate of interest:'chargedgihyVth_e=soci.ety..._i_s opposed to the Reserve Bank of India Guidelines. A A A' A H ;3. other hand, learned Counsel appearing for the contends that the petitioner has to challenge the award under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliat_ioi1,Act, 1996 having regard to sub-section (5) of Section i""f'"8n4gof Act. It is argued that the matter requires factual A ~adj*ud..i5cation and the alternative remedy available to the petitioner V. not only adequate but also eyficacious in nature. Alternatively, he 'E & \ contends that after deducting the payments made by the petitio.ner,_ the Arbitrator has passed an award, which is just and 1- V
4. At this stage, learned Counsel',for,-t-he;petitioner' that the award is final and cannot be'called 'in qttestioniinyianvy Court because of the bar contained in Section-8:4(--3_) of Act. Therefore, the petitioner has no othe.rz:optio_n "tovfi'l'e_pthe writ petition challenging the award. _
5. Havi'ng':'reg_ard 'thehrival"contentions of the parties, the question for --cons'ideration«.ils'-awhether an alternative remedy is n available to'ratrheiipeti"tiori"e.r forithallenging the award? if 5§,,4A'lVflt1lti--State Co--operative Societies Act, 2002 is an i"A_clt'l.._to "Conso_lidl.a'te" and amend the law relating to co--operative societiesnwithi objects not confined to one State and serving the Vtgintcrestslllof members in more than one State, to facilitate the ti r i na ' mocraic un i nin o -0 iv sat vollnta formato nd de t f cto fco erat e 9 (air or its board and any past board, any officer, agent or emp--lo_yee;' A' any past officer, past agent or past employee, representatives of any deceased officer, igzleceasedv agent' or__deceasVed_ A' employee of the multi--State co--operative*--soci~ety, orv~'V--*d)viVbetwi33ent the multi--State co--operative societyiviarid' any otlier:ni.t'ilti.-i15§tate co- operative society, between:a"-multiiiaégtateicoéoperativesociety and liquidator of another mL1lti--_S_tate._co{operative'i~soc'i'ety or between the liquidator society and the liquidator of society, such dispute shall _S.'ubv--section (2) of Section 84 defines touching the constitution, managoement or business of a multi--State co--o erative societ for the of sub--section (1) as under:
the multi--State co--operative society for any *d_eb*tior demand due to it from a member or the nominee, heirs or legal representatives of a deceased ii «.,_member, whether such debt or demand be admitted or not.
'5::»""* (3), 7
(b) xxxxx xxxxx x>lxxX.
(c) xxxxx xxxxx _xxx_xx"
7. The other :'elevantA's'tatutory"pifivisionysiiare sub--sections (4) and (5)'of"Sec'a'iionV_ 84,V».vhich are tiiiderf "('35) If any 'qi_iestie.n arivsesvwhether a dispute referred to arbitration underfthiis'..Secti.on is or is not a dispute touching. _the COFl'S[lA[L1v[i;1(}I];ii management or business of a ..«.rnulti~Statei'ice:operative society, the decision thereon . of arbitrator shall be final and shall not be called in H . ii Court.
"-(4) Why;-.rep:=a dispute has been referred to arbitration A"-tinder ':5uib~section (1), the same shall be settled or decided by the arbitrator to be appointed by the Central H "Registrar.
"(5) Save as otherwise provided under this Act, the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 53 11 granting writ. In my view, the alternative remedyHavai-lab1e:"to_ the"
petitioner is not only adequate but also _eft'i;ear;io:L1s'-in'--.natiire,_' Therefore, I decline to entertain the writ petition. Ityié. aeieoirdirggliy dismissed reserving liberty to the pletitiloner to 'avail tile alternative remedy available to him inléiw. No l iUDGE