S. Varadarajan vs The Special Officer, Triplicane Urban Co-operative Society Ltd., Madras-5 and The Registrar of Cooperative Society, Teynampet, Madras

Kanakaraj, J.—This writ petition is directed against an order of the Special Officer of the Triplicane Urban Co-operative Society Limited, Madras. In and by the said order, the petitioner was reduced to the rank of Sales Assistant (Accounting Clerk) from the cadre of Supervisor. A preliminary objection is taken by the learned counsel appearing for the respondents that the writ petition is not maintainable in view of the Full Bench judgment of this court reported in R. Thamilarasan, etc R. Thamilarasan, J. Rajesekaran, C. Karamani, D. Ramanujam and P. Kannan Vs. The Director of Handlooms and Textiles, Madras and Others, . The learned counsel appearing for the petitioner has sought to argue before me that the Full Bench of this court was not concerned with all co-operative societies and in any event, the respondent/Co-operative Society will not come within the four corners of the decision rendered by the Full Bench. The learned counsel refers to the fact that the petitioner in this writ petition had once come to this court under Art. 226 of the Constitution of India and it was held in S. Varadarajan v. The Special Officer, TUCS. Ltd. 1985 W.L.R. 251 that the writ petition is maintainable. But it is pointed out by the learned counsel for the respondent that the said judgment was considered by the Full Bench and even though they have not specifically overruled the said judgment, it is impliedly overruled. The learned counsel for the petitioner says, inasmuch the government has almost full control over the society and 85 per cent of the shares are held by the government, this society will not come within the purview of the Full Bench judgment. I have carefully perused the judgment of the Full Bench of this court. I am inclined to hold that the Full Bench had rested its decision on the basis that the co-operative society is not a statutory body and it is not created by a statute. On the other hand, a co-operative society is a body created by a group of individuals acting in accordance with the provisions of a Statute. In fine, the Full Bench in R. Thamilarasan, J. Rajesekaran, C. Karamani, D. Ramanujam and P. Kannan Vs. The Director of Handlooms and Textiles, Madras and Others, , held as follows:

Viewed from any angle and in the light of the pronouncements of the Supreme Court and of the other High Courts, particularly the two Full Bench judgments of different High Courts referred to above, it appears to us that a co-operative society, is not an authority nor an instrumentality or agency of the Government to attract Art. 12 of the Constitution and therefore not amenable to writ jurisdiction under Art. 226 of the Constitution.

Having regard to the above categorical decision of the Full Bench it will not be proper for me to canvass the issue again. I am clearly of the opinion that the Full Bench has categorically laid down that a society registered under the Tamil Nadu Co-operative Societies Act will not be amenable to the writ jurisdiction, whatever may be its constitution. In this view of the matter, this writ petition is dismissed as not maintainable. No costs.