- (1.) The petitioner was appointed as Land Valuation Officer by the Punjab State Co-operative Land Mortgage Bank Limited on November 3, 1961. He was confirmed in that post on November 3, 1963. Thereafter, he was promoted as Divisional Land Valuation Officer and was subsequently promoted to the post of a manager. On September 2, 1969, while he was posted as Manager of the Panipat Primary Co-operative Land Mortgage Bank Limited, Panipat (hereinafter referred to as the Bank), he was charge-sheeted by the Secretary, Haryana State Co-operative Land Mortgage Bank Limited. The petitioner submitted a reply to the charges framed against him and after an inquiry he was dismissed from service on February 26, 1970. He filed an appeal before the Registrar, Co-operative Societies which was also dismissed on July 21, 1970. Against the appellate order of the Registrar, he filed a revision petition before the State Government which was dismissed on the ground that under rule 10 of the Service Rules of the Bank "the decision of the appellate authority shall be final and binding on the parties" and as such no revision petition lay before the Government. The petitioner has challenged this order dated 8th January, 1971 (Annexure 'C') passed by the Joint Secretary to Government of Haryana, Development and Co-operation Departments.
(2.) The first point to be seen is whether a revision petition does lie before the State Government or not. The learned counsel for the respondent has brought to my notice a Single Bench decision of this Court Gurdaspur Central Co-operative Bank Ltd. v. Under Secretary to Government, Punjab, Co-operation, 1973 PunLJ 232, in which it was held as under :- "An appeal under Section 68(1)(b) of the Act lies against any decision or award made under Section 56 of the Act. Admittedly, in the instant case, no reference to arbitration was made to decide the dispute between the petitioner and respondent No. 2. Respondent 2 was dismissed from service by the petitioner-Bank under bye-law 37, and an appeal provided by that bye-law was dismissed by the Deputy Registrar, Co-operative Societies. No further remedy was open to respondent 2 under the bye-laws and that order cannot be said to have been made under the provisions of the Act nor on a reference to arbitration so that neither an appeal lay under Section 68 nor a revision under Section 69 of the Act. The order passed by the State Government is wholly without jurisdiction and is liable to be quashed." It appears that certain statutory provisions were not brought to the notice of the learned Judge who decided this case. Section 85 of the Punjab Co-operative Societies Act, 1961 as applicable to Haryana and hereinafter referred to as the Act, lays down that the Government may make rules to carry out the purposes of this Act. Sub-section (2)(xxxviii) empowers the Government to make rules regarding the qualifications for the members of the committee and employees of a Society or class of societies and the conditions of service subject to which persons may be employed by societies. Under this provision, the Government has framed rule 8 which enjoins upon a Co-operative Society to make bye-laws in respect of appointment, suspension and removal of the officers of the co-operative society and members of the committee. The bye-laws made by a Co-operative, Society under this provision, if properly made, would be regarded as a part of the rule itself. In that sense, if an employee of the Co-operative Society is dismissed from service, it could be said that the action has been taken against him under the provisions of the statute. It is not disputed that no appeal lies before the Government under Section 68 of the Act at the instance of an employee of a Co-operative Society. In this situation, Section 69 would be attracted and the Government would be competent to call for the record of the case in exercise of its revisional powers.
(3.) In the instant case, the officer empowered to act as State Government has relied upon rule 10 framed by the Bank which shows that the order passed by the Registrar in appeal shall be final and binding.;