- (1.)THIS is an application by Bhikharipur Co-operative Society Ltd. , district Fatehpur, through one of its directors, Radha Krishna Dubey, for proceedings for contempt of court against Surendra Singh, Assistant Registrar, Co-operative Societies, Fatehpur in the following circumstances:
(2.)THE petitioner-society mainly carries on the business of giving loans to its members and charges interest from them. The members of the society also deposit their monies and earn interest thereon. In 1965 one Sheo Sagar Sharma was the President of the society, while Subedar Tripathi was its Manager cum Secretary. The allegation of the petitioner is that on 16. 7. 1965, Lakshmi Narain, the then President of Meoli Co-operative Society Ltd. , district Fatehpur approached the petitioner-society for a loan of Rs. 4,000/- on behalf of Meoli Cooperative Society Ltd. . It is again the case of the petitioner that on that date (16. 7. 1965) a loan of Rs. 4,000/- was advanced by the petitioner society to the Meoli Co-operative Society Ltd. , through its President, Lakshmi Narain. The latter is alleged to have promised to return the amount with interest by September, 1965. He is further alleged to have executed a receipt for the aforesaid loan. The case of the petitioner society further is that Meoli Co-operative Society Ltd. , failed to repay the amount of Rs. 4,000/- by September, 1965, as agreed. The result was that on 25-11-1965 the petitioner Society filed suit No. 423 of 1965 against Meoli Co-operative Society Ltd. , in the court of the Munsif, Fatehpur, for the realisation of the loan with interest. It may be mentioned here that before instituting the suit the matter had come up for consideration before the meeting of the board of directors held on 10-11. 1965 wherein it was decided to institute a suit against Meoli Co-operative Society Ltd. and that the expenses of the suit will be borne by the petitioner society. It is alleged that the respondent on 17-1. 1966, with full knowledge of the pendency of the petitioner's suit aforesaid addressed a letter to the board of directors and the petitioner-society alleging that its President, Sheo Sagar Sharma and its Manager Secretary, Subedar Tripathi were in collusion with each other and in order to misappropriate a sum of Rs. 4,000/, had fictitiously shown an advance of loan of that amount to Meoli Co-operative Society Ltd. , and had thus allowed Subedar Tripathi to embezzle that amount. A copy of the aforesaid letter was sent to all the directors by name and also to the Manager Secretary as well as to the Deputy Registrar, Co-operative Societies, U. P. , Allahabad. A copy of the letter is annexure 's' to the counter-affidavit of the respondent.
(3.)THE argument advanced on behalf of the petitioner, therefore, is that by sending the aforesaid letter and its copies to various persons, the respondent had not only expressed his opinion about the transaction, which was the subject matter of the suit, but had also attempted to create a prejudice in the mind of the directors and Secretary etc. , with respect to the merits of the claim made by the petitioner in its civil suit against Meoli Cooperative Society Ltd. , and that it had further embarras. Bed the directors of the petitioner society from appearing as witnesses in the civil suit on behalf of the society, particularly when the suit had been instituted at their instance, as resolved in their meeting dated 10-11-1965. On account of the above conduct of the respondent it was alleged that he had committed contempt of the court of the Munsif, Fatehpur where the suit of the petitioner-society was then pending.