Himachal Pradesh High Court
Ravinder Chatra vs State Of Himachal Pradesh And Others on 12 October, 2018
Bench: Surya Kant, Ajay Mohan Goel
IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA CWP No. 2473 of 2018 .
Decided on: 12.10.2018
Ravinder Chatra ...Petitioner
Versus
State of Himachal Pradesh and others ...Respondents
Coram r
The Hon'ble Mr. Justice Surya Kant, Chief Justice.
The Hon'ble Mr. Justice Ajay Mohan Goel, Judge.
Whether approved for reporting?
For the petitioner: Mr. Kush Sharma, Advocate.
For the respondents: Mr. Ashok Sharma, Advocate General, with Mr. Ranjan Sharma, Mr. Adarsh Sharma and Mr. Ashwani K. Sharma, Additional Advocate Generals, for respondents No. 1, 2 and 6.
Mr. Vikrant Thakur, Advocate, vice Mr. Sushant Vir Singh Thakur, Advocate, for respondents No. 3 to 5.
Surya Kant, Chief Justice. (Oral) The petitioner is brotherinlaw of respondent No. 7. The latter availed loan of ₹ 2,30,000/ from Himachal ::: Downloaded on - 12/10/2018 22:59:53 :::HCHP 2 Pradesh State Cooperative Bank for the purchase of Tata Sumo commercial vehicle. The loan was availed in the year .
2006. The petitioner, who is working as a Superintendent in the Department of Education, stood guarantor to the loan.
The documents on record reveal that the seventh respondent failed to deposit the due installments and her loan account was classified as NPA. It further appears that the Bank treated the loan amount within the ambit of "financial assistance" under Section 2 (d) of The Himachal Pradesh Public Moneys (Recovery of Dues) Act, 2000 and issued a Certificate of NonRecovery, dated 1st August, 2016, after issuing show cause notice to the borrower and the petitionerguarantor. According to the Certificate of Non Recovery, dated 1st August, 2016, a sum of ₹ 8,10,735.00 was recoverable as on 30th July, 2016.
2. Since the borrower failed to pay the amount, the bank, through Collector (Recovery), has directed the Principal of Government Senior Secondary School Himri, Tehsil Kotkhai, District Shimla, where the petitioner is ::: Downloaded on - 12/10/2018 22:59:53 :::HCHP 3 posted, to effect the recovery from him being the guarantor and deduct a sum of ₹ 24,000/ per month from his salary .
bill.
3. It is vehemently urged on behalf of the petitioner that the borrower has already deposited amount of ₹ 9,00,000/ towards the loan account, as is inferable from the documents supplied by the Bank, and still a huge amount of over ₹ 8,00,000/ is sought to be recovered from the borrower and the petitioner.
4. In the light of the admitted facts regarding availing of the loan facilities, nonpayment of due installments or the account having been classified as NPA, the limited question, which falls for consideration, is -
whether the recoverable amount has been determined by the Bank in accordance with law and agreed terms and conditions. Such an issue, in our considered view, can be effectively determined by the Registrar Cooperative Societies in exercise of his powers of arbitration under Sections 72 (d) & (e) and 73 of The Himachal Pradesh Co ::: Downloaded on - 12/10/2018 22:59:53 :::HCHP 4 operative Societies Act, 1968. It goes without saying that the respondentBank, being a cooperative society registered .
under the said Act, and the petitioner, being a surety of a member/loanee, is entitled to invoke the said jurisdiction.
5. There is another reason which prompts us to enable the petitioner to file the appeal. The Himachal Pradesh Public Moneys (Recovery of Dues) Act, 2000 does not provide any remedy of appeal etc. Though, the right to appeal is a creation of Statute, but, it appears to us that the petitioner cannot be left remediless on the question of determination of the actual loan amount payable by the borrower or the petitioner. We, thus, direct Registrar Cooperative Societies to entertain the arbitration application/petition, as may be preferred by the petitioner under Sections 72 (d) & (e) and 73 of the 1968 Act, and adjudicate the same in accordance with law and principles of natural justice within a period of four months from the date of filing of such petition. The petitioner shall be at liberty to seek interim relief before the authority referred to above.
::: Downloaded on - 12/10/2018 22:59:53 :::HCHP 56. The writ petition is disposed of accordingly alongwith pending applications, if any.
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Copy dasti.
(Surya Kant) Chief Justice (Ajay Mohan Goel) Judge October 12, 2018 ( rajni ) ::: Downloaded on - 12/10/2018 22:59:53 :::HCHP