- (1.) Leave granted. The short question that arises for consideration in this appeal, by special leave, is whether a dispute arising out of a contract for sale and purchase of immovable property owned by the respondents was amenable to adjudication under Section 64 of the M.P. Cooperative Societies Act, 1960. By his order dated 1st March, 2004, the Deputy Registrar, Co-operative Societies, Ujjain, before whom the proceedings were initiated, answered that question in the affirmative and decreed specific performance of the contract entered into between the parties. A first appeal preferred by the sellers (respondents-herein) before the Joint Registrar Ujjain failed and was dismissed by his order dated 7th August, 2009. Aggrieved by the said two orders, the respondents preferred a second appeal before the M.P. State Co-operative Tribunal, Bhopal who allowed the same and set aside the orders passed by the Deputy Registrar and that passed by the Joint Registrar holding that the dispute raised by the purchaser-society could not be made the subject matter of proceeding under Section 64 of the M.P. Cooperative Societies Act, 1960. The purchaser-society then filed writ petition No.15195 of 2011 which was heard and dismissed by a Division Bench of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh. The High Court concurred with the view taken by the Tribunal that a dispute arising out of a contract of sale and purchase of immovable property was beyond the purview of Section 64 of the Act. The present appeal calls in the question the correctness of the said judgments and orders.
(2.) Section 64 of the M.P. Cooperative Societies Act, 1960, may, at this stage, be extracted in extenso : "64. Disputes: - (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, [any dispute touching the constitution, management or business, or the liquidation of a society shall be referred to the Registrar] by any of the parties to the dispute if the parties thereto are among the following:- (a) a society, its committee, any past committee, any past or present officer, any past or present agent, any past or present servant or a nominee, heirs or legal representatives of any deceased agent or deceased servant of the society, or the liquidator of the society; (b) a member, past member or a person claiming through a member, past member or deceased member of a society or of a society which is a member of the society; (c) a person other than a member of the society who has been granted a loan by the society or with whom the society has or had business transactions and any person claiming through such a person. (d) a surety of a member, past member of deceased member or a person other than a member who has been granted a loan by the society, whether such a surety is or is not a member of the society. (e) any other society or the liquidator of such a society; and (f) a creditor of a society. (2) For the purpose of sub-section (1), a dispute shall include (i) a claim by a society for any debt or demand due to it from a member, past member or the nominee, heir or legal representative of a deceased member, whether such debt or demand be admitted or not; (ii) a claim by a surety against the principal debtor where the society has recovered from the surety any amount in respect of any debt or demand due to it from the principal debtor as a result of the default of the principal debtor, whether such debt or demand be admitted or not; (iii) a claim by a society for any loss caused to it by a member, past member or deceased member, any officer, past officer or deceased officer, any agent, past agent or deceased agent, or any servant, past servant or deceased servant or its committee, past or present, whether such loss be admitted or not; (iv) a question regarding rights, etc., including tenancy rights between a housing society and its tenants or members; and (v) any dispute arising in connection with the election of any officer of the society or of composite society; Provided that the Registrar shall not entertain any dispute under this clause during the period commencing from the announcement of the election programmed till the declaration of the results. (3) If any question arising whether a dispute referred to the Registrar is a dispute, the decision thereon of the Registrar shall be final and shall not be called in question in any court."
(3.) A careful reading of the above would show that for a dispute to be brought within the purview of Section 64 two essential requirements must be satisfied viz. (i) that the dispute must "touch the constitution, management or business of the society or must relate to the liquidation of the co-operative society;" and (ii) that the dispute must be between parties referred to in clauses 'a to f' of Section 64(1) . It is only when the twin requirements are in the facts and circumstances of a given case satisfied that a dispute can be said to be amenable to adjudication under Section 64. Failure of any one of the two requirements would take the dispute beyond the said provision.;