CR No. 2923 of 2008 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH C.M. No. 9977-CI of 2008 and CR No. 2923 of 2008 Date of Decision: 9.9.2009 Shivalik Cooperative House Building First Society Ltd. ....Petitioner. Versus Sushil Kumar ...Respondent. CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AJAY KUMAR MITTAL. PRESENT: Mr. R.L. Luthra, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr. GPS Bal, Advocate for the respondent. AJAY KUMAR MITTAL, J. C.M. No. 9977-CI of 2008 Allowed as prayed for. C.R. No. 2923 of 2008 The petitioner has approached this Court by way of instant revision petition under Article 227 of the Constitution of India for setting aside the order dated 4.1.2008 (Annexure P-7) whereby the objection petition filed by the petitioner against the execution of the award dated 26.11.2002 passed in favour of the respondent was dismissed by the executing court. The petitioner-Society which deals in construction of flats made a reference to the Arbitrator for recovery of Rs.1,47,500/- from the CR No. 2923 of 2008 -2- respondent, who is its member, towards the cost of land and construction, but the demand of the Society did not find favour with the Arbitrator who rather passed the award dated 26.11.2002 in favour of the respondent directing the Society to hand over the possession of the plot to the respondent which was allotted to him. In the present proceedings, the respondent has sought execution of that award, wherein the society filed the objections. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and have perused the record. The solitary contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner is that under Section 63 of the Punjab Cooperative Societies Act, 1961 (in short “the Act”), the arbitration award passed under the Act cannot be executed as a decree of civil court till the certificate is issued by the Registrar or any person authorized by him in this behalf. According to him the execution application filed by the respondent was not maintainable. On the other hand, learned counsel for the respondent while supporting the order passed by the executing court has submitted that the objection regarding certification of the award under Section 63 (a) of the Act by the Registrar or any person authorized by him was never raised before the executing court and, therefore, the petitioner is precluded from raising this plea before this Court for the first time. He, however, has produced a photo copy of the certificate dated 11.9.2008 issued by the Assistant Registrar, Cooperative Societies under Section 63 (a) of the Act certifying that the award having not been carried out by the judgment debtors was executable as a decree of civil court. On the CR No. 2923 of 2008 -3- strength of the aforesaid certificate, the learned counsel asserted that the award be executed as a civil court decree. I do not find any merit in the contentions raised by the learned counsel for the petitioner. In order to appreciate the controversy in correct perspective, it is desirable to reproduce the statutory provision on the subject. Section 63 of the Act reads thus:- “63. Execution of certain decision, awards and orders.-Every decision, award or order duly passed under Section 54, 56, 62 or 69 shall, if not carried out- (a) on a certificate signed by the Registrar or any person authorized by him in this behalf, be deemed to be a decree of a civil court, and shall be executed in the same manner as a decree of such Court; or (b) be executed by the Registrar or any other person subordinate to him, empowered by the Registrar in this behalf, by the attachment and sale or by sale without attachment of any property to the person or of the co-operative society against whom the order, decision or award has been obtained or passed; or (c) be executed according to the law for the time being in force for the recovery of arrears of land revenue; Provided that an application for the recovery of any sum in the last aforesaid manner shall be made CR No. 2923 of 2008 -4- to the Collector and shall be accompanied by a certificate signed by the Registrar or any person authorized by him in this behalf.” According to plain reading of clause (a) of Section 63, a certificate signed and issued by the Registrar or any person authorized by him in this behalf in respect of every decision, award or order which is passed under the Act becomes a decree of a civil court and is executable in the same manner as a decree of such court. In the present case, the certificate produced by the learned counsel for the respondent has not been disputed by the learned counsel for the petitioner. After hearing learned counsel for the parties and perusing the record, the submission made by the learned counsel for the petitioner deserves to be rejected for two reasons; firstly, that no such plea was raised before the executing court; and secondly, the certificate dated 11.9.2008 issued by the Assistant Registrar, Cooperative Societies complies with the requirements of Section 63 (a) of the Act which entitles the respondent to execute the award dated 26.11.2002 passed under the Act as a civil court decree. In view of the above, there is no merit in the instant revision petition and the same is hereby dismissed. September 9, 2009 (AJAY KUMAR MITTAL) gbs JUDGE