Late Sitram Dattatraya Panchpor ... vs State Of Maha. Thr. Minister For ...
2022 Latest Caselaw 10090 Bom

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            IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
                       CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
                      WRIT PETITION NO. 11143 OF 2022


Late S.D. Panchpor,
through legal heirs                                             .....Petitioners
     V/s.
The State of Maharashtra and Ors.                               ....Respondents
                                        -----
Mr. S.S. Patwardhan i/by. Mr. Ratan L. Adhe, Advocate for the
petitioner.
Mr. P.P. Pujari, AGP for State.
Mr. Pratap Patil, Advocate for respondent no.5.


                               CORAM : SANDEEP K. SHINDE, J.

MONDAY, 3RD OCTOBER, 2022.

P.C. :

1. The Commissioner for Co-operation and Registrar of Co-operative Societies, by his order dated 14 February, 2002 under th

Section 83 of the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 ("M.C.S. Act" for short), appointed an Enquiry Officer to conduct an enquiry in respect of the affairs of the Rupee Co-operative Bank. The Enquiry Officer, conducted the enquiry under Section 83 and filed his report on 31 st October, 2002. On the basis of the said Report, Commissioner for Co-operation issued order under Section 88 of the said Act and appointed Authorised Officer by an order dated 11 th July, 2007. The Authorised Officer, had issued show-

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cause notice under Rule 72(2) and thereafter held enquiry, prepared his report and passed judgment and award dated 2 nd

February, 2016 under Section 88 of the M.C.S. Act.

2. The petitioners are the legal heirs of Late, Sitaram D. Panchpor, who was the Deputy General Manager of the Rupee Co- operative Bank. He passed away on 24 March, 2020.

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3. Late, Sitaram Panchpor had challenged the order dated 2 nd February, 2016 passed under Section 88 of the M.C.S. Act in Appeal under Section 152 of the said Act. The said Appeal was heard by the Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Maharashtra who by, judgment and order dated 30 December, th

2021 dismissed the Appeal and confirmed the order of the Authorised Officer passed under Section 88 of the M.C.S. Act.

4. Pending Appeal, the Appellate Authority vide order dated 9 th January, 2017 had stayed the execution and implementation of order passed by the Authorised Officer.

5. Pending enquiry, immovable property of Sitaram Panchpor, was attached on 7 December, 2016. The liability fixed th

against Late, Sitaram Panchpor, under Section 88 was Rs.4,88,301/-. It appears, the attachment was released inlieu of ;

(i)Saving Bank Account of Smt. Rupali S. Panchpor, No.2009394067, Bank of Maharashtra, Sahakar Nagar Branch, Pune- Rs.2,43,000/-.

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(ii) Fixed Deposit Receipt No. 588007 with Bank of Maharashtra, Sahakar Nagar Branch, Pune in the sum of Rs.5,00,000/- in the name of Smt. Rupali S. Panchpor.

(iii)Fixed Deposit Receipt No. 588458 with Bank of Maharashtra, Sahakar Nagar Branch, Pune in the sum of Rs.1,00,000/- in the name of Smt. Rupali S. Panchpor.

(iv)unpaid salary payable to Mr. S.D. Panchpor- Rs.36,000/-.

(v)D-Mat Account No. 10412815, 10482513, Cosmos Co- operative Bank Ltd., Parvati Branch, Pune.

6. Primary contention of the petitioners is that, the order passed by the Additional Chief Secretary, State of Maharashtra is unenforceable and vitiates for want of authority.

7. It appears, the Government of Maharashtra, by its order dated 6 March, 2018 appointed Additional Chief Secretary as the th

authority to decide the Appeal filed by the appellants under Section 152 of the M.C.S. Act.

8. Para-2.1 of the impugned judgment and order indicates that, during the course of hearing, the Additional Chief Secretary was transferred to the post of Additional Chief Secretary and Commissioner (Investment and Protocol), Maharashtra Sadan, New Delhi w.e.f. 26 August, 2019.

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9. Learned Counsel appearing for the petitioners would therefore submit that, upon transfer of Additional Chief Secretary on 26 August, 2019 to the post of Additional Chief Secretary and th Rane 4/4 WP-11143-2022 3 October, 2022.

Commissioner (Investment and Protocol), Maharashtra Sadan, New Delhi, he ceased to be the Appellate Authority.

10. This Court on similar ground passed an order on 8 th

September, 2022 in Writ Petition No. 6914/2022 and three companion petitions and continued the stay that was granted by the Appellate Authority to the order of the Authorised Officer during the pendency of Appeal.

11. The facts of the case in hand and the facts in Writ Petition No. 6914/2022 and other three connected petitions are same, except the dates of impugned orders.

12. Mr. Pratap Patil, learned Counsel appearing for respondent no.1 and learned AGP for respondent no.2 seek time for instructions. Time granted. Stand over to 15 December, 2022.

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13. In the meanwhile, the attachment of movable property, as described in para-5 above, shall continue to operate till the next date.

14. The order attaching the properties of the petitioners, pending Appeal also shall continue to operate, till further order.

NEETA SHAILESH SAWANT Digitally signed by (SANDEEP K. SHINDE, J.) NEETA SHAILESH SAWANT Date: 2022.10.07 16:27:00 +0530