Iqbal Singh Tiwana, J. - (1.) In this petition under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India the Petitioner has primarily challenged the vires of Sec. 67 -A of the Punjab Co -operative Societies Act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the Act). The facts and circumstances which deserve to be noticed in order to appreciate the contention of the Petitioner are as follows: A certificate (Annexure P. 1) under Sec. 67 -A of the Act was issued against the the Petitioner by the Deputy Registrar, Co -operative Societies, Hoshiarpur, exercising the powers of the Registrar for the recovery of Rs. 6403.90. It was further stipulated in this certificate that interest at the rate of 13/1/2 percent per annum would also be recoverable on the abovesaid amount till the final realisation of the amount. The contention now raised is that the provisions of Sec. 67 -A of the Act are ultra vires of Article 14 of the Constitution because these provisions lay down a more drastic procedure for the recovery of the loans in favour of the Societies than the ordinary procedure prescribed in Ss. 55 and 56 of the Act and as there are no guidelines as to in which case or class of cases either of the procedure is to be followed, the persons similarly situated can be discriminated against. At this stage it would be necessary to notice the relevant provision of the Act and Article 14 of the Constitution which are reproduced hereunder: Section 67 -A. Recovery of crop loans. - -(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in Ss. 55 or Sec. 56 or Sec. 63, a co -operative society may apply to the Registrar for the recovery of arrears of any loan advanced by it to any member together with interest accrued there on and when such an application is made it shall be accompanied by an up to -date statement of accounts in respect of such can and interest thereon. (2) On receiving an application under Sub -section (1), the Registrar may, after making such inquiries as he deems fit and after affording the member concerned an opportunity of being heard, grant a certificate for the recovery of the amount stated therein to be due as such arrears. (3) Where the Registrar is satisfied that co operative society has failed to take action under Sub -section (1) against any of its members, the Registrar on his own motion, may after making such inquiries, as he deems fit and affording an opportunity of being beard to the member concerned, proceed to grant a certificate referred to in Sub -section (2). (4) A certificate granted by the Registrar under this Sec. shall be final and conclusive proof of the arrears due therein and the same shall be recoverable according to the law for the time being in force for the recovery of arrears of land revenue. Section 55. Disputes which may be referred to arbitration. - -(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force, if any dispute touching the constitution, management or the business of a co -operative society arises - - (a) among members past members and persons claiming through members, past members and deceased members; or (b) between a member, past member or person claiming through a member, past member or deceased member and the society, its committee or any officer, agent or employee of the society or liquidator, past or present; or (c) between the society or its committee and any past committee, any officer, agent or employee, or any past officer, past agent or past employee or the nominee, heirs or legal representatives of any deceased officer, deceased agent, or deceased employees of the society; or (d) between the society and any other co -operative society, between a society and liquidator of another society or between the liquidator of one society and the liquidator of another society; such dispute shall be referred to the Registrar for decision and no Court shall have jurisdiction to entertain any suit or other proceedings in respect of such dispute. (2) For the purposes of Sub -section (1), the following shall be deemed to be disputes touching the constitution, management or the business of a co -operative society, namely: (a) a claim by the society for any debt or demand due to it from a member or the nominee, heirs or legal representatives of a deceased member, whether such debt or demand be admitted or not; (b) 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 is admitted or not; (c) any dispute arising in connection with the election of any officer of the society. (3) If any question arises whether a dispute referred to the Registrar under this Sec. is or is not a dispute touching the constitution, management or the business of a co -operative society, the decision thereon of the Registrar shall be final and shall not be called in question in any Court. (4) No dispute arising in connection with the election of an officer of the society shall be entertained by the Registrar unless it is referred to him within thirty days from the date of the declaration of the result of of election. Section 56 Reference of disputes to arbitration - -(1) The Registrar may, on receipt of the reference of dispute under Sec. 55, - - (a) decide the dispute himself, or (b) transfer it for disposal to any person who has been invested by the Government with powers in that behalf, or (c) refer it for disposal to one arbitrator. (2) The Registrar may withdraw any reference transferred under Clause (b) of Sub -section (1) or referred under Clause (c) of that sub -section and decide it himself or refer the same to another arbitrator for decision. (3) The Registrar or any other person to whom a dispute is referred for decision under this Sec. may, pending the decision of the dispute, make such interlocutory orders as he may deem necessary in the interest of justice. Article 14. The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India. A reading of the above provisions would make it abundantly clear that the choice of the particular mode to be adopted for the recovery of amount in a particular case is left with the Society or the person and not with the Registrar or any other Government authority. Under Sec. 67 -A of the Act, a Co -operative Society may apply to the Registrar for the recovery of any arrears of loan advanced by it to any member together with interest accrued thereon. When such an application is made, it should be accompanied by an up to date statement of accounts in respect of such loan and interest thereon. It is on the receipt of such an application that the Registrar has to proceed to make the inquiries which he may deem necessary in the matter. It is after such an enquiry after affording an opportunity of being heard to the member proceeded against that the certificate referred to in Sub -section (2) can be granted by the Registrar. Similarly under Sec. 55, after a dispute of the type mentioned in Sub -section (1) having arisen, the matter has to be referred to the Registrar who under Sec. 55 of the Act may either decide the dispute himself or transfer it to any other person authorised by the Government in this behalf or an Arbitrator for disposal. In neither of these two situations, the Registrar can proceed according to his own choice. Move in either case has to be made by Co -operative Society concerned. No doubt it is true that under Sub -section (3) of Sec. 67 -A, the Registrar may on his satisfaction that the Society has failed to take action Sub -section (1), proceed on his own motion for making the inquiries he may deem fit for issuing of a certificate under Sub -section (2) but he has no similar authority under any other provision and more particularly under Ss. 55 and 56 of the Act. Whenever the Registrar chooses to move in the matter suo motu, he can only act under Sub -section (3) of Sec. 67 -A. He has no option or choice to adopt any other course for the recovery of the amount due to the Society. Therefore, he cannot possibly discriminate between two similarly situated debtors of the Society. If that is the situation as it is so held then there is no question of Sec. 67 -A of the Act being violative of Article 14 of the Constitution which enjoins on the State and on no other legal entity, (be it an institution or an individual) to ensure equality before the law or equal protection of laws to all persons. The injunction against denying the equality before the law or equal protection of the laws, is directed to the State which expression undoubtedly would also include public officials acting on behalf of the State, but would certainly not include the action of individuals. In a nutshell, the expression "equal protection of the laws or equality before the law" refers to the actions of the State only and not the actions of the private individual.
(2.) A somewhat similar argument was raised with regard to the vires of Sec. 63 of the Act, in The Wara Waryam Singh Co -operative Agricultural Service Society v/s. Gurbachan Singh and Ors., 1974 PLR 708 on behalf of the Respondents, debtor of the Co -operative Society and the same was repelled by the Division Bench on the reasoning indicated above. In this view of the matter, we do not find that there is any occasion for the Registrar or any other Government authority to discriminate between different persons by choosing one or the other mode of realisation of the amount due to a Society. Thus the argument that Sec. 67 -A of the Act is, in any way, violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India, has no merit and we reject the same.
(3.) A half -hearted argument was also raised by the learned Counsel for the Petitioner to the effect that before proceeding to issue the impugned certificate, the Registrar did not issue any notice to the Petitioner as envisaged by Sub -section (2) of Sec. 67 -A of the Act. According to him no opportunity of being heard was ever afforded to the Petitioner. This stand of the Petitioner has not only been controverted in the return filed on behalf of the Registrar but has also not been found to be factually correct in the light of the record produced by the learned Counsel for the Respondents. The notice issued by the Registrar to the Petitioner for putting in appearance on April 30, 1979, before him, was refused by the Petitioner and Bihari Lal Chowkidar, who was deputed to serve this notice on the Petitioner, made a report to that effect and posted a copy of the same on the door of the house of the Petitioner. This report of the Chowkidar is duly signed by the Sarpanch of the village. In the light of this factual position, we have no hesitation in rejecting this contention also.;