A full bench of Himachal High Court has observed that the High Court has wide powers to issue writs against cooperative societies but depends upon facts and circumstances of each case.
It will be "inapposite" to put it in a straight jacket manner that every writ petition filed against cooperative banks must be "dismissed as not maintainable or otherwise", the bench observed.
The full bench comprising Chief Justice A M Khanwilkar, Justice R B Misra and Justice D D Sud on a question as to whether the Kangra Central Co-operative Bank and other cooperative banks are within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution of India, observed that in exercise of powers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, writs or orders can be issued even against any person or authority, if facts and situation of the case so warrant.
The bench further clarified in its order that, "the question as to whether a writ would lie against the stated cooperative banks, we hold that it is not appropriate to give a definite answer to this question as it would depend on several attending factors."
The court further observed that "the question formulated by the division bench, as to whether a writ would lie against the cooperative banks, essentially touches upon the scope of power of the High Courts to issue certain writs as predicated in Article 226 of the Constitution of India."
The full bench passed the order on a bunch of petitions filed in this regard.
