IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) THURSDAY, THE TWENTY EIGHTH DAY OF OCTOBER TWO THOUSAND AND FOUR PRESENT THE HON'BLE MS JUSTICE G.ROHINI WRIT PETITION NO : 19757 of 2004 Between: 1 Alaparthi Satyanaryana Rao, S/o.Subrahmanyam, R/o.Dhammana Vari Palem H/o.Yazali post, Karlapalem Mandal, Guntur Dist. 2 V.Srinivasa Raju, S/o.Satyanarayana Raju, R/o.Pittalavanipalem village, & Mandal, Guntur Dist. 3 Manthena Srinivas Raju, S/o.Dharmaraju, R/o.Manthena vari palem, Pittalavanipalem Mandal, Guntur Dist. 4 Pathapati Anji Raju, S/o.Venkat Raju, R/o.Alaka Puram, Pittlavanipalem Mandal, Guntur Dist. ..... PETITIONER(S) AND 1 The Guntur District-Co-operative Central Bank Ltd., rep.by its General Manager, having its Administrative office at ADM office, 2/13, Brodipet, Guntur, Guntur Dist. 2 The Person-in-Charge & District Collector, The Guntur District Co-operative Central Bank Ltd., Collectorate, Guntur Dist. .....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 or direction more particularly one in the nature of writ of Mandamus declaring the impugned decision of the 1st Respondent as arbitrary, illegal and violative of Articles 14, 16 & 21 of the Constitution of India. Counsel for the Petitioner: MR.C.S.N.RAJU Counsel for the Respondents: MR.VENKATESWARLU POSANI The Court at the stage of admission made the following Order: The petitioners, four in number, claim to be the members of Primary Agricultural Co- operative Society Limited, Yazali. It is stated that they have taken keen interest in getting the District Co-operative Central Bank Limited establish a branch at Khajipalem Village, which covers five Primary Agricultural Co-operative Societies in the neighbouring villages. While so, the first respondent-District Co-operative Central Bank Limited, Guntur has taken a decision to close the Khajipalem branch and also its affiliated Primary Agricultural Co-operative Societies and merge them with a neighbouring branch of Nizampatnam or Bapatla. Aggrieved by the said decision, this writ petition is filed. A perusal of the material on record shows that the Managing Committee of the Bank, vide resolution dated 30-04-2004, has decided to close non-viable branches and accordingly, it was resolved to merge the Khajipalem branch with the nearby branches of Bapatla/Nizampatnam and also to affiliate the Primary Agricultural Co- operative Societies and other societies of the said branch. Accordingly, some of the officials were directed to take up the process of amalgamation of Khajipalem branch with nearby branches of Bapatla/Nizampatnam as per the procedure indicated and the said process was directed to be completed by 31-10-2004 positively. According to the vicinity, loans outstanding, deposits outstanding, viability norms the Primary Agricultural Co-operative Societies in the closed branch were attached to the reorganized branches as specified thereunder. The only ground raised by the petitioners is that it is factually incorrect to state that Khajipalem branch is non-viable and therefore, the impugned decision of the first respondent is erroneous and unsustainable. Whether the branch in question is viable or not is a question to be decided by the Managing Committee on the basis of the material available on record. This Court while exercising the power of judicial review under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, will not sit as an appellate authority over such a decision and substitute its own decision on re-appreciation of the rival pleas. Particularly in the absence of allegation of mala fides against any one of the officials of the first respondent or any material to show that the impugned decision is in contravention of any statutory provision, the interference of this Court is not warranted. Accordingly, the writ petition is dismissed. No costs. _________________ 28-10-2004 kdl To 1 The General Manager The Guntur District-Co-operative Central Bank Ltd., having its Administrative office at ADM office, 2/13, Brodipet, Guntur, Guntur Dist. 2 The Person-in-Charge & District Collector, The Guntur District Co-operative Central Bank Ltd., Collectorate, Guntur Dist. 3 Two C.D. Copies.