THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR WRIT PETITION NO.2823 OF 2002 DATED 29TH JUNE, 2011 BETWEEN The A.P.S.E.B. Operation Circle Employees Co-operative Credit Society Limited. …Petitioner And H.M.M.Limited (Horlicks) Employees Co-operative Credit Society Limited and others. …Respondents THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR WRIT PETITION NO.2823 OF 2002 ORDER: The Andhra Pradesh State Electricity Board Operation Circle Employees Co-operative Credit Society Limited, Rajahmundry, East Godavari District, filed an application under the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Co-operative Societies Act, 1964 (for brevity, ‘the Act of 1964’) before the Deputy Registrar of Co-operative Societies-cum- Divisional Co-operative Officer, Rajahmundry Division, East Godavari District, for recovery of a sum of Rs.37,16,480/- from the H.M.M. (Horlicks) Employees Co-operative Credit Society Limited, Dowlaiswaram, East Godavari District, with subsequent interest at 21% per annum and for costs. The said application was returned under endorsement dated 04.12.2000 stating that it was not a fit case to be entertained as per the Act of 1964 and the rules framed thereunder as a society should not grant a loan to any person other than a member of such society. Aggrieved thereby, the Andhra Pradesh State Electricity Board Operation Circle Employees Co-operative Credit Society Limited filed the present writ petition. The writ petition stood dismissed against the Part-Time Person- in-Charge of Horlicks Employees Co-operative Credit Society Limited owing to the failure of the petitioner society to effect service of notice upon him. However, as the H.M.M. (Horlicks) Employees Co-operative Credit Society Limited itself is a party to this writ petition along with its Ex-Officio President, the dismissal of the case against the Part-Time Person-in-Charge of the said society would not have any fatal effect upon the writ petition. It was the case of the petitioner society that it invested its extra funds in the fixed deposits offered by the respondent society during the period 09.06.1995 to 07.02.1997. The total amount due under these fixed deposits from the respondent society, being the principal and the interest payable, was quantified at Rs.37,16,480/- as on 31.01.2000. As the respondent society failed to repay the said amount upon the petitioner society’s demand, the subject application had been filed under the provisions of the Act of 1964 for effecting recovery. The Deputy Registrar of Co-operative Societies-cum-Divisional Co-operative Officer, Rajahmundry Division, East Godavari District, however was of the opinion that unless the amount sought to be recovered was a loan amount offered to its member, a society could not maintain an application under the provisions of the Act of 1964. This understanding of the Deputy Registrar of Co-operative Societies- cum-Divisional Co-operative Officer, Rajahmundry Divsion, East Godavari District, is patently erroneous. Section 61(d) of the Act of 1964 speaks of disputes which may be referred to the Registrar for resolution and one such dispute is a dispute arising between two societies. Section 46 of the Act of 1964 empowers a society, by a resolution of majority of its committee, to invest or deposit its funds which are not immediately required for its business in the shares or securities of any other society. Therefore, the petitioner society was acting well within the ambit of law in investing its extra funds in the securities offered by the respondent society in the form of fixed deposits. The dispute was therefore one which was within the jurisdiction of the Deputy Registrar of Co-operative Societies-cum- Divisional Co-operative Officer, Rajahmundry Division, East Godavari District, in the scheme of the Act of 1964. The limited and incorrect understanding of the said officer that only loans offered by a society to its members could be made the subject matter of enquiry of such a proceeding, being opposed to the legal environment of the Act of 1964 and the rules framed thereunder, the impugned endorsement made by the said officer returning the petitioner society’s application cannot be countenanced. The Deputy Registrar of Co-operative Societies-cum- Divisional Co-operative Officer, Rajahmundry Division, East Godavari District, is accordingly directed to entertain the application filed by the petitioner society under the appropriate provision of the Act of 1964 and adjudicate the same in accordance with provisions of the said Act and the rules framed thereunder. In the light of the delay caused by the wrongful rejection of the application, the officer is directed to dispose of the application on its merits expeditiously. The Writ Petition is allowed with the above direction. Miscellaneous petitions filed in the writ petition shall stand dismissed in the light of this final order. Parties shall bear their own costs. ____________________ SANJAY KUMAR, J. 29TH JUNE, 2011. VGSR/PGS