IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) TUESDAY, THE SIXTEENTH DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE L.NARASIMHA REDDY WRIT PETITION NO : 9364 of 2007 Between: Smt. P. Vani W/o Sri J. Ratna Prabhakar Regional Office, KDCC Bank, Vijayawada. R/o H. No. 53-4- 20/1A, Christurajupuram, Vijayawada. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Commissioner, Registrar of Co-operative Societies, Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad 2 The District Co-operative Officer, Machilipatnam Krishna district. 3 Divisional Co-operative Officer, Vijayawada. 4 Sri M.V.Vara Parasad Rao Co-operative Sub Registrar./ 51 Enquiry Officer, Office of Divisional Co-operative Office Vijayawada. 5 The General Manager, KDCC bank Ltd., Machilipatnam. .....RESPONDENT(S) Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the aﬃdavit ﬁled herein the High Court will be pleased to issue a Writ, order or direction more especially one in the Writ of Mandamus declaring the proceedings of the 1st respondent in R.C. No. 6092/2007/Cr.II (A) dt 08-03- 2007 issuing permission to the DPO to take criminal Action against me is arbitrary, illegal, unconstitutional and set a side the same consequently issue a direction directing the respondents not to proceed further in- pursuance of the above proceedings and pass such other order or orders as this Hon'ble Court may deems ﬁt and proper in the circumstances of the case. Counsel for the Petitioner: MR.G.ELISHA Counsel for Respondent Nos. 1 to 3: GP FOR COOPERATION Counsel for Respondent No. 4: Sri. B. Adinarayana Rao The Court at the stage of admission made the following : ORDER: The petitioner worked as incharge Assistant General Manager in the Regional Oﬃce of Krishna District Cooperative Central Bank, Vijayawada. Surcharge proceedings under Section 60 (1) of the Andhra Pradesh Cooperative Societies Act, 1964 (for short, ‘the Act’) were initiated against her and ultimately, an order was passed against her on 22-12- 2006 by the Joint Registrar/District Cooperative Oﬃcer, Krishna at Machilipatnam, the 2nd respondent herein. He has also accorded permission for prosecution of the petitioner. The petitioner ﬁled O.A No. 16 of 2007 in the Andhra Pradesh Cooperative Tribunal, Vijayawada against the surcharge order. Her grievance is that even while the O.A is pending, she is sought to be prosecuted on the basis of the permission accorded by the 2nd respondent. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned counsel appearing for the respondents. It is no doubt true that the petitioner is found to have resorted to certain acts of misconduct and irregularity and an order of surcharge was passed. This naturally gives rise to three categories of steps viz., disciplinary proceedings in accordance with the service rules, steps for recovery under the Act and the rules, and the prosecution for the criminal acts. The petitioner had already availed the remedy of appeal. If she is prosecuted even while the appeal is pending, she would be put to hardship and jeopardy. This Court is of the view that the steps for prosecuting the petitioner can be deferred till the disposal of the O.A. Hence, the writ petition is partly allowed directing that the steps for initiating prosecution against the petitioner on the basis of the permission accorded by the 2nd respondent shall stand deferred till the disposal of O.A No. 16 of 2007 by the Andhra Pradesh Cooperative Tribunal, Vijayawada. The O.A shall be disposed of as early as possible, not later than three months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. There shall be no order as to costs. L.NARASIMHA REDDY, J Dated: 16-09-2008 ks Note: Furnish CC in three days. B/O ks ..... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1 The Commissioner, Registrar of Co-operative Societies, Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad 2 The District Co-operative Officer, Machilipatnam Krishna District. 3 Divisional Co-operative Officer, Vijayawada. 4 The General Manager, KDCC bank Ltd., Machilipatnam. 5 Two CCS to the Government Pleader for Cooperation, High Court of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad (OUT). 6 Two CD copies