Appeal No 1312 of 1967
Appeal by special leave from the judgment and decree dated  October 22 1962 of the Kerala High Court in Appeal Suit No804 of 1969
B R Naik and K Rajendra Chowdhary for the appellant
The respondent did not appear
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by Khanna J
This is an appeal by special leave against the judgment of Kerala High Court affirming an appeal the order of the Lower Court whereby the appellant Bank s application for execution of an award made under the Bombay Co operative Societies Act 1925 hereinafter referred to as the Bombay Act was dismissed
The appellant is a Co operative Society registered in Bombay under the Bombay Act
The Head Office of the appellant is in Bombay and it has a branch in Mangalore
As the objects of the appellant were not confined to one State it was governed by Multi Unit Co operative Societies Act of 1942 herinafter referred to as the Central Act
The appellant made a claim under section 54 of the Bombay Act in respect of a transaction which took place in Mangalore against the respondent who is a resident of Kasaragod and was a member of the appellant society
Both Mangalore and Kasaragod were at the relevant time in Madras Presidency
The Deputy Registrar of Co operative Societies Bombay gave an award regarding that claim
The award was sought to be executed as a decree in the Court of Subordinate Judge Kasaragod
An objection to the execution of the decree was raised by the respondent on the ground that the Deputy Registrar of Co operative Societies Bombay had no jurisdiction to pass the award and the same could not be executed as a decree in the Courts in Kerala
This objection was upheld by the Subordinate Judge and he dismissed the execution application
On appeal the decision of the learned Subordinate Judge was affirmed by the High Court
It was not disputed before the High Court that the appellant was governed by the provisions of the Central Act 164 The contention raised on behalf of the appellant was that the passing of an award came within the expression control  occurring in sub section 1 of section 2 of the Central Act
This contention did not find favour with the High Court and in the result the appeal was dismissed
We have heard Mr Naik on behalf of the appellant
No one has appeared on behalf of the respondent
Before dealing with the argument advanced on behalf of the appellant it would be apposite to reproduce section 2 of the Central Act
The same reads as under  2
1 A co operative society to which this Act applies which has been registered in any State under the law relating to co operative societies in force in that State shall be deemed in any other State to which its objects extend to be duly registered in that other State under the law there in force relating to co operative societies but shall save as provided in sub sections 2 and 3 be subject for all the purposes of registration control and dissolution to the law relating to co operative societies in force for the time being in the State in which it is ac tually registered
2 Where any such co operative society has established before the commencement of this Act or establishes after the commencement of this Act a branch or place of business in a State other than in which it is actually registered it shall within six months from the commencement of this Act or the date of establishment of the branch or place of business as the case may be furnish to the Registrar of Co operative Societies of the State in which such branch or place of business is situated a copy of its registered by laws and shall at any time it is required to do so by the said Registrar submit any returns and supply any in formation which the said Registrar might require to be submitted or supplied to him by a co operative society actually registered in that State
3 The Registrar of Co operative Societies of the State in which a branch or place of business such as is referred to in sub section 2 is situated may exercise in respect of that branch or place of business any powers of audit and of inspection which he might exercise in respect of a co operative society actually registered in the State
According to sub section 3 of section 1 the Central Act applies to all co operative societies with objects not confined to one State incorporated before the commencement of this Act under 165 the  or under any Act relating to co operative societies in force in any State and to all co operative societies with objects not confined to one State to be incorporated after the commencement of this Act
 As the objects of the appellant society were not confined to one State it was not disputed before the High Court that it is governed by the previsions of the Central Act
Plain perusal of sub section 1 of section 2 reproduced above makes it manifest that if the objects of a co operative society registered in State A  extend to State B  the Society shall be deemed to be registered in State B  under the law in force in State B  relating to co operative societies
Despite this deemed registration in State B  for three purposes namely registration control and dissolution the society shall be subject to the law relating to co operative societies in force in State A 
Sub section 2 makes it obligatory on a co operative society which establishes a branch or place of business in a State other than that in which it is actually registered to furnish within the prescribed time to the Registrar of the cooperative societies of the State in which such branch or place of business is situated a copy of its by laws and to submit such return and supply such information as the Registrar might require in respect of a co operative society actually registered in that State
Sub section 3 gives a limited control to the Registrar of Co operative Societies of the State in which a branch or place of business of a co operative society is established by authorising him to exercise in respect of that branch or place of business any powers of audit and of inspection which he might exercise in respect of a co operative society actually registered in that State
The contention which has been advanced on behalf of the appllant society by its learned counsel Mr Naik is that as the appellant was registered in Bombay it is the Bombay Act which govern the appellant society for purposes of registration control and dissolution
It is not disputed that the adjudication of a claim by the appellant against its members does not fall under the head registration  or dissolution
What is however urged is that the word control  comprehends within itself the adjudication of a claim made by the society against its members
Such a claim having been made by the appellant against the respondent the same could according to the learned counsel have been adjudicated upon under section 54 of the Bombay Act
The award made by the Deputy Registrar of Co operative Societies Bombay in the circumstances the counsel submits did not suffer from any legal infirmity
166 There is in our opinion no force in the above contention because we do not agree with the underlying assumption of the above argument that the word control  comprehends within itself the adjudication of a claim made by a co operative society against its members
The appellant society as would appear from the resume of facts given above established a branch in Mangalore and had dealings there with the respondent who was a resident of Kasaragod
As the objects of the appellant society were extended to the Presidency of Madras it should in view of subsection 1 of section 2 of the Central Act be deemed to have been registered under the law in force in the Presidency of Madras relating to co operative societies
The law which was then in force according to Mr Naik was the Madras Co operative Societies Act 1932 hereinafter referred to as the Madras Act
Clause f of section 2 of that Act defines a registered society to mean a society registered or deemed to be registered under that Act
Section 51 of the Madras Act provides inter alia that if any dispute touching the business of a registered society between a member and the society arises such dispute shall be referred to the Registrar for decision
Registrar has been defined in clause g of section 2 of the Madras Act to mean a person appointed to perform the duties of a Registrar of Co operative Societies under this Act and includes a person on whom all or any of the powers of a Registrar under the Act have been conferred
It would therefore follow that a dispute between the appellant and the respondent in respect of its dealings relating to its Mangalore branch would normally have to be adjudicated upon by the Registrar appointed under the Madras Act
The fact that for the purpose of control the appellant society was governed by the Bombay Act would not in our opinion justify a departure from the above normal rule
The word control  is synonymous with superintendence management or authority to direct restrict or regulate See p 442 of Words and Phrases Vol 9 Permanent Edition
Control is exercised by a superior authority in exercise of its supervisory power
Adjudication of disputes is a judicial or quasi judicial function and it would in our opinion by unduly straining the meaning of the word control  to hold that it also covers the adjudication of disputes between a co operative society and its members
There is a clear distinction between jurisdiction to decide a dispute which is a judicial power and the exercise of control which is an administrative power and it would be wrong to treat the two as identical or equate one with the other
Reference has been made on behalf of the appellant to the case of Panchshila Industrial Co operative Societies Mult Unit 167 vs The Gurgaon Central Co operative Bank Ltd Gurgaon1
In that case Deputy Registrar of Co operative Societies Rohtak had given an award in favour of the respondent bank which was a co operative society governed by the provisions of Punjab Cooperative Societies Act
The appellant filed an appeal against that award before the Central Registrar
The Central Registrar dismissed the appeal on the ground that he was not the appropriate appellate authority in respect of the said award
On appeal to this Court the decision of the Central Registrar was affirmed
It was held that the dispute between the parties fell within section 55 of the Punjab and those provisions were not affected by the Central Act
It would appear from the above that the question involved in that case was entirely different and the appellant can derive no assistance from it
Argument has also been advanced that there was no inherent lack of jurisdiction in the Deputy Registrar appointed under the Bombay Act for adjudicating upon the dispute between the parties and that it was at the best a case of lack of territorial jurisdiction
We find ourselves unable to accede to this contention because we are of the opinion that there was inherent lack of jurisdiction in the Registrar appointed under the Bombay Act for dealing with the dispute arising out of the dealings of the Mangalore branch of the appellant society with the respondent
The dispute between the parties as would appear from what has been discussed above could only be adjudicated upon in accordance with the provisions of the Madras Act
The appeal consequently fails and is dismissed
As no one has appeared on behalf of the respondent we make no order as to costs
GC Appeal dismissed
1 1971 2 2SCC 500


Summary:
The appellant was a co operative society registered in Bombay under the Bombay Co operative Societies Act 1925
The head office of the appellant was in Bombay and it had a branch in Mangalore
As the objects of the appellant were not confined to one State it was governed by MultiUnit Cooperative Societies Act 1942 a Central Act
The appellant made a claim under section 54 of the Bombay Act in respect of a transaction which took place in Mangalore against the respondent who was a resident of Kesaragod and was a member of the appellant society
Both Mangalore and Kesaragod were at the relevant time in Madras Presidency
The Deputy Registrar of Co operative Societies Bombay gave an award regarding that claim
The award was sought to be executed as a decree in the Court of Subordinate Judge Kesaragod
The respondent took an objection to the execution on the ground that the Deputy Registrar of Bombay bad no jurisdiction to pass the award and the same could not be executed as a decree in the courts in Kerala
Upholding the objection the Subordinate Judge dismissed the execution application
The High Court affirmed the decision
In appeal by special leave before this Court the appellant contended that since it was registered in Bombay State it was the Bombay Act which would govern the appellant society for purposes of registration control and dissolution as laid down in section 21 of the Central Act
The word control it was urged comprehends within itself the adjudication of a claim made by the society against its members and in the circumstances the award under section 54 of the Bombay Act made by the Deputy Registrar Co operative Societies Bombay did not suffer from any legal infirmity
HELD  As the objects of the appellant society were extended to the Presidency of Madras it should in view of sub section 1 of section 2 of the Central Act be deemed to have been registered under the law in force in the Presidency of Madras relating to co operative societies
The law which was then in force was the Madras Co operative Societies Act 1932
Under section 51 of that Act a dispute between the appellant and the respondent in respect of its dealings relating to its Mangalore branch would normally have to be adjudicated upon by the Registrar appointed under the Madras Act
The fact that for the purpose of control the appellant society was governed by the Bombay Act would not justify a departure from the above normal rule
166 B E The word control  is synonymous with superintendence management or authority to direct restrict or regulate
Control is exercised by a superior authority in exercise of its supervisory power
Adjudication of disputes in a judicial or quasi judicial function and it would be unduly straining the meaning of the word control  to hold that it also covers the adjudication of disputes between a co operative society and its members
There is a clear distinction between jurisdiction to decide a dispute which is a judicial power and the exercise of control which is an administrative power and it would be wrong to treat the two as identical or equate one with the other
166 F G 163 Panchshila Industrial Co operative Societies Multi unit vs Gurgaon Central Co operative Bank Ltd Gurgaon  distinguished
Since as held above the dispute between the parties could only be adjudicated upon in accordance with the provisions of the Madras Act the Registrar under the Bombay Act lacked inherent jurisdiction to decide the dispute and it was not a case of lack of territorial jurisdiction only 167 D E