High Court of KeralaSingle JudgeDismissed
G. Francis v. Arayoor Service Co-operative Bank Ltd and others
Case / Petition Number:WP(C) No.30401/2022
Case Details & Bench
- Court
- High Court of Kerala
- Hon'ble Judges
- N. Nagareesh
- Judgment Date
- 2024-01-16
- Court Decision / Holding
- Writ petition dismissed. The court held the petition not maintainable in the absence of statutory violation or breach of public duty and in light of the availability of Section 69 remedies; the financial position of the bank and the need to pursue statutory relief outweighed a judicial order for direct repayment.
- Final Disposition
- Dismissed
Parties to the Case
Appellants / Petitioners
- G. Francis
Respondents
- Arayoor Service Co-operative Bank Ltd, Arayoor P.O, Amaravila, Thiruvananthapuram - represented by its Secretary
- The Part-time Administrator, Arayoor Service Co-operative Bank Ltd
- The Secretary, Arayoor Service Co-operative Bank Ltd
- The Branch Manager, Plamootukada Branch, Arayoor Service Co-operative Bank Ltd
- The Assistant Registrar of Co-operative Societies (General), Neyyattinkara
- Addl R6. Kerala Bank (Erstwhile Thiruvananthapuram District Co-operative Bank) Udayankulankara Branch, Thiruvananthapuram - Represented by its Branch Manager
Legal Representation & Advocates
Counsels for Petitioners
- • B.S. Swathi Kumar
- • Anitha Ravindran
- • Harisankar N
- • Unni N.S.
- • Shamila Navvya Unni
Counsels for Respondents
- • M. Sasindran
- • Thomas Abraham
- • Sri. Dheeraj A.S.
- • Government Pleader
Case Synopsis & Summary
G. Francis, an A-class Government contractor with PWD works for 35 years, approached the Kerala High Court seeking a writ to compel repayment of fixed deposits by Arayoor Service Co-operative Bank Ltd (and connected officers). He asserts deposits totaling ₹1,55,05,836 across various FDs, made with the bank, primarily to fund his daughter's marriage. Despite a legal notice and repeated requests, the bank repaid only ₹6,73,454, leaving approximately ₹1,48,32,367 in principal plus interest due. The bank explained its precarious financial position and indicated it had already paid ₹45,59,022 in principal and ₹15,11,292 in interest between 21.06.2021 and 13.10.2022, with total liabilities and external obligations constraining full repayment. The petitioner contended that a Co-operative Society accepting money from another Co-operative Society should repay, relying on a prior decision, Gandhigram Agro Based Industrial Co-operative Society v. Marangattupilly Service Co-operative Bank, to argue that there is no dispute necessitating Section 69 of the Co-operative Societies Act. The respondent-bank maintained that, given its finances, full repayment cannot be ordered by writ. The Court, invoking Meenachil Rubber Marketing and Processing Co-operative Society Ltd v. Choondachery Service Co-operative Bank Ltd and Managing Director, Kerala State Co-operative Rubber Marketing Federation, held that the writ petition is not maintainable absent statutory violation or breach of public duty and in the presence of an available remedy under Section 69. The petition is thus dismissed.
Provisions of Law Cited
Co-operative Societies ActSection 69 of the Co-operative Societies Act
Legal Doctrines & Maxims
- Writ petitions are not maintainable in the absence of statutory violation or breach of public duty by a Co-operative Society.
- Disputes between a Co-operative Society and a depositor requiring Section 69 of the Co-operative Societies Act.
- Where an alternate and efficacious remedy exists, a writ petition is not maintainable.
Submissions & Arguments
Contentions of Appellants / Petitioners
The petitioner contends that the bank, a cooperative society, is statutorily bound to repay the fixed deposit amounts with applicable interest, and that withholding funds contradicts the depositor’s rights and the public trust reposed in the cooperative banking system. Citing Gandhigram Agro Based Industrial Co-operative Society v. Marangattupilly Service Co-operative Bank, he argues that there is no dispute warranting Section 69 and that a writ should compel payment. He emphasizes the substantial amount due (principal and interest), the time value, and the hardship caused by delays amid his daughter’s marriage plans.
Contentions of Respondents
The respondents argue financial insolvency and liquidity constraints prevent full repayment of all fixed deposits. They contend that deposits are paid according to availability, and the Bank has already released significant sums (₹45,59,022 principal and ₹15,11,292 interest) within a period, with total liabilities exceeding available resources. They assert the absence of a statutory violation or breach of public duty and rely on established precedent that writ petitions should not override statutory remedies, particularly Section 69 of the Co-operative Societies Act, where disputes regarding deposits should be resolved through appropriate statutory channels.
Cited Precedents (3)
| Case Name | Citation | Treatment | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gandhigram Agro Based Industrial Co-operative Society Limited v. Marangattupilly Service Co-operative Bank Limited and others | 2019 (3) KHC 60 | Mentioned Only | Cited to illustrate the argument that a co-operative society accepting money from another co-operative society may be obliged to repay; however, the court did not rely on this decision in its ultimate ruling and instead grounded its decision on other authorities. |
| Meenachil Rubber Marketing and Processing Cooperative Society Limited No.K118 and another v. Choondachery Service Co-operative Bank Limited No.167 and another | 2018 (2) KHC 180 | Positive | Court applied the principle from this decision to hold that writ petitions seeking repayment in such contexts are not maintainable absent statutory violation or breach of public duty, especially where an alternate remedy under Section 69 exists. |
| Managing Director, Kerala State Co-operative Rubber Marketing Federation v. Kallumala Agricultural Co-operative Bank Limited and others | 2018 (2) KHC 180 | Positive | Cited in conjunction with the Meenachil Rubber decision to reinforce the view that writ petitions for repayment are not maintainable and that statutory remedies should be pursued. |
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Extracted Judgment Text
Exact text extracted from official judgment records.
## **IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM**
## **PRESENT**
**THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE N.NAGARESH**
**TUESDAY, THE 16[TH] DAY OF JANUARY 2024 / 26TH POUSHA, 1945**
**WP(C) NO. 30401 OF 2022**
## **PETITIONER:**
**G.FRANCIS AGED 63 YEARS F.M.NIVAS, EANTHIKALA, ARAYOOR.P.O, AMARAVILA(VIA), NEYYATTINKARA, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM.**
**BY ADVS. B.S.SWATHI KUMAR ANITHA RAVINDRAN HARISANKAR N UNNI N.S.SHAMILA NAVVYA UNNI**
## **RESPONDENTS:**
- **1 ARAYOOR SERVICE CO-OPERATIVE BANK LTD ARAYOOR.P.O, AMARAVILA, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM-695122, REPRESENTED BY ITS SECRETARY.**
- **2 THE PART-TIME ADMINISTRATOR, ARAYOOR SERVICE CO-OPERATIVE BANK LTD.NO.692, ARAYOOR.P.O, AMARAVILA, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM-695122.**
- **3 THE SECRETARY, ARAYOOR SERVICE CO-OPERATIVE BANK LTD.NO.692, ARAYOOR.P.O, AMARAVILA, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM-695122.**
- **4 THE BRANCH MANAGER, PLAMOOTTUKADA BRANCH, ARAYOOR SERVICE COOPERATIVE BANK LTD.NO.692, PLAMOOTTUKADA, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM-695122.**
- **5 THE ASSISTANT REGISTRAR OF CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES (GENERAL), NEYYATTINKARA, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM-695121.**
W.P.(C) No.30401/2022
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***6 ADDL.R6. KERALA BANK (ERSTWHILE AS THIRUVANANTHAPURAM DISTRICT CO-OPERATIVE BANK) UDAYANKULANKARA BRANCH, S.L.TOWERS, UDAYANKULANGARA, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM 695 122 REPRESENTED BY ITS BRANCH MANAGER.**
**(ADDL R6 IS IMPLEADED AS PER ORDER DATED 29-11-2022 IN IA 1/2022 IN WP(C)30401/2022)**
**BY ADVS.**
**M.SASINDRAN THOMAS ABRAHAM SRI.DHEERAJ A.S., GOVERNMENT PLEADER**
**THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 16.01.2024, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:**
W.P.(C) No.30401/2022
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## **N. NAGARESH, J.**
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
## W.P.(C) No.30401 of 2022
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` _Dated this the 16[th] day of January, 2024_
## **J U D G M E N T**
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The petitioner, who is an A Class Government Contractor doing work of PWD for the last 35 years, has approached this Court seeking to declare that respondents 1 to 4 are legally and statutorily bound to repay the Fixed Deposit with applicable interest to the petitioner and to declare respondents 1 to 4 to repay the fixed deposit amount deposited by the petitioner.
2. The petitioner states that he has made Fixed Deposits of various amounts, with the Arayoor Service Co-operative Bank Limited. The petitioner has made Fixed Deposits for a total amount of ₹1,55,05,836/- in the Bank. The petitioner approached the Bank to release Fixed
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Deposits for the purpose of conducting the marriage of his daughter. The Bank did not pay. The petitioner had to postpone the wedding due to lack of funds.
3. The petitioner therefore sent Ext.P1 lawyer notice dated 28.03.2022 to the Bank seeking payment of Fixed Deposit amount. The marriage of the petitioner's daughter is fixed on 09.11.2022. Out of the total principal amount of Fixed Deposit, the Bank had repaid only an amount of ₹6,73,454/-. An amount of ₹1,48,32,367/- is due to the petitioner towards principal and interest. The repeated requests made by the petitioner did not yield any result. Hence, the petitioner is before this Court seeking to direct the respondents to pay the Fixed Deposit.
4. Relying on the judgment of this Court in _**Gandhigram Agro Based Industrical Co-operative Society Limited v. Marangattupilly Service Co-operative Bank Limited and others** [2019 (3) KHC 60]_ , the counsel for the petitioner argued that a Co-operative Society accepting money from another Co-operative Society has to repay the
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amount. In such cases, it cannot be said that there is a dispute and that the matter has to be adjudicated under Section 69 of the Co-operative Societies Act.
5. The 1[st] respondent-Bank resisted the writ petition. The 1[st] respondent submitted that the financial position of the 1[st] respondent-Bank is not sound, so as to return the entire amount of deposit to all depositors. The Bank has returned ₹60 Crores to the depositors. In view of the weak financial position, the applications for return of Fixed Deposits are considered according to the payments received from other sources. In the process of returning of his deposits, after 21.06.2021 and up to 13.10.2022, an amount of ₹45,59,022/was paid to the petitioner towards principal and ₹15,11,292/was given as interest.
6. The respondents pointed out that due to financial constraints, even the employees are not paid full salary. An amount of ₹55.2 Crores is to be received as loan repayment and ₹28.61 as interest. An amount of ₹12 Crores is due to the Society towards transferring to the MDS. Thus, a total
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amount of ₹95.9 Crores is to be received by the Society. The total deposit liability of the Bank is only ₹100 Crores.
7. I have heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Standing Counsel representing the respondents.
8. The grievance of the petitioner is relating to nonpayment of Fixed Deposit amounts. Whether a writ petition is maintainable for payment of money payable by the Co-operative Banks came up for consideration before this Court in _**Meenachil Rubber Marketing and Processing**_ **Cooperative** _**Society Limited No.K118 and another v. Choondachery Service**_ **Co-operative** _**Bank Limited No.167 and another** [2018 (2) KHC 180]_ and a Division Bench of this Court held that writ petition filed for issuing a direction to Co-operative Society to repay amount covered by Fixed Deposit with future interest, will not be maintainable in the absence of any violation of any statutory provisions or breach of any public duty by the Co-operative Society. In _**Managing Director, Kerala State Co-operative Rubber**_
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_**Marketing Federation v. Kallumala Agricultural Cooperative Bank Limited and others** [2018 (2) KHC 180],_ a Division Bench of this Court held that when Society does not refund any amount deposited, that would be a dispute between the Society and depositor which requires to be resolved under Section 69 of the Co-operative Societies Act. When an alternate and efficacious remedy is available, writ petition is not maintainable.
In view of the law laid down by this Court in _**Meenachil Rubber Marketing and Processing**_ **Cooperative** _**Society Limited No.K118 and another**_ (supra) and _**Managing Director, Kerala State Co-operative Rubber Marketing Federation**_ (supra), this writ petition is not maintainable. The writ petition is therefore dismissed.
Sd/-
**N. NAGARESH, JUDGE**
aks/15.01.2024
W.P.(C) No.30401/2022
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## **APPENDIX OF WP(C) 30401/2022**
## **PETITIONER'S EXHIBITS**
**Exhibit P1 TRUE COPY OF THE LAWYERS NOTICE DATED 23.8.2020 TO THE 3RD RESPONDENT Exhibit P2 TRUE COPY OF THE DETAILS OF FIXED DEPOSITS OF THE PETITIONER IN HEAD OFFICE OF THE 1ST RESPONDENT. Exhibit P3 TRUE COPY OF THE DETAILS OF FIXED DEPOSITS OF THE PETITIONER IN PLAMOOTTUKKADA BRANCH OF THE 1ST RESPONDENT. Exhibit P4 TRUE COPY OF THE WEDDING INVITATION OF THE PETITONER'S DAUGHTER FIXED ON 9- 11-2022 Exhibit P5 TRUE COPY OF THE REQUEST FILED BY THE PETITIONER DATED 7-9-2021 BEFORE THE 2ND RESPONDENT Exhibit P6 TRUE COPY OF THE REPLY NO.69/21 DATED 18-9-2021 OF THE 2ND RESPONDENT. Exhibit P7 TRUE COPY OF THE COMMUNICATION NO.NEYY.2120/2021 DATED 23-9-2021 OF THE 5TH RESPONDENT.**
## **RESPONDENT'S ANNEXURES**
**Annexure R1(a) TRUE COPY OF THE APPLICATION DATED 29/08/2022 FOR RETURN OF AMOUNT SUBMITTED BY A DEPOSITOR NAMELY, S.RAVEENDRAN NAIR. Annexure R1(b) TRUE COPY OF THE APPLICATION DATED 27/10/2022 FOR RETURN OF AMOUNT SUBMITTED BY A DEPOSITOR NAMELY, KUMARI PRIYA. Annexure R1(c) TRUE COPY OF THE APPLICATION DATED 16/10/2022 FOR RETURN OF AMOUNT SUBMITTED BY A DEPOSITOR NAMELY, VIMALA DEVI. Annexure R1(d) TRUE COPY OF THE APPLICATION FOR RETURN OF AMOUNT SUBMITTED BY A DEPOSITOR NAMELY, KRISHNAN NAIR.**
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|**Annexure R1(e)**|**TRUE COPY OF THE APPLICATION FOR**|
|---|---|
||**RETURN OF AMOUNT SUBMITTED BY A**|
||**DEPOSITOR NAMELY, NESHARAJ.**|
|**Annexure R1(f)**|**TRUE COPY OF THE APPLICATION DATED**|
||**20/09/2022 FOR RETURN OF AMOUNT**|
||**SUBMITTED BY A DEPOSITOR NAMELY,**|
||**SUMATHI.G.**|
|**Annexure R1(g)**|**TRUE COPY OF THE APPLICATION DATED**|
||**16/07/2022 FOR RETURN OF AMOUNT**|
||**SUBMITTED BY A DEPOSITOR NAMELY,**|
||**PUSHPALATHA**|
|**Annexure R1(h)**|**TRUE COPY OF THE APPLICATION DATED**|
||**02/11/2022 FOR RETURN OF AMOUNT**|
||**SUBMITTED BY A DEPOSITOR NAMELY,**|
||**R.SURESH.**|
|**Annexure R1(i)**|**TRUE COPY OF THE APPLICATION DATED**|
||**22/10/2022 FOR RETURN OF AMOUNT**|
||**SUBMITTED BY A DEPOSITOR NAMELY,**|
||**KRISHNENDU.R.G.**|
|**Annexure R1(j)**|**TRUE COPY OF THE APPLICATION FOR**|
||**RETURN OF AMOUNT SUBMITTED BY A**|
||**DEPOSITOR NAMELY, C.VIMALA.**|
|**Annexure R1(k)**|**TRUE COPY OF THE APPLICATION FOR**|
||**RETURN OF AMOUNT SUBMITTED BY A**|
||**DEPOSITOR NAMELY, SARASWATHI.**|
|**Annexure R1(l)**|**TRUE COPY OF THE APPLICATION FOR**|
||**RETURN OF AMOUNT SUBMITTED BY A**|
||**DEPOSITOR NAMELY, SOMAN.V.**|
|**Annexure R1(m)**|**TRUE COPY OF THE APPLICATION FOR**|
||**RETURN OF AMOUNT SUBMITTED BY A**|
||**DEPOSITOR NAMELY, EBAINAISAR SAMJI.**|
|**Annexure R1(n)**|**TRUE COPY OF THE APPLICATION FOR**|
||**RETURN OF AMOUNT SUBMITTED BY A**|
||**DEPOSITOR NAMELY, PRIYA.**|
|**PETITIONER'S**|**EXHIBITS**||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Exhibit P8**|**TRUE COPY OF THE FEE**|**RECEIPT DATED 7-**|||
||**10-2022**<br>**ISSUED**|**BY**|**THE**|**SRI.**|
||**RAMACHANDRAN INSTITUTE **||**OF **|**HIGHER**|
||**EDUCATION & RESEARCH**||||
## W.P.(C) No.30401/2022
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**Exhibit P9 TRUE COPY OF THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FORM OF HANDING OVER THE SITE TO THE CONTRACTOR DATED 24-2-2023**