CHAPTER
I Preliminary These rules may be called the Andhra
Pradesh Co operative Tribunal (Procedure) Rules, 1994, In these rules, unless the context
otherwise requires,- (a)
"Act" means the Andhra Pradesh
Co-operative Societies Act, 1964 (Act 7 of 1964); (b)
"Appeal" means an appeal preferred to the
Tribunal under Section 76 of the Act; (c)
"Chairman" means the Chairman of the
Tribunal; (d)
"Form" means a form appended to these
rules; (e)
"Gazette" means the Gazette of Andhra
Pradesh; (f)
"Party" means the applicant and included
his Pleader or any other person on behalf of the appellant; (g)
"Pleader" means the Pleader as defined in
Clause (15) of Section 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Central Act V of
1908); [1][(ga) "Presenting Officer" means an officer of the
Co-operation Department generally not below the rank of Special Category Deputy
Registrar appointed by the Registrar of Co-operative Societies to receive, on
his behalf and on behalf of the State Government, Notices issued by the Andhra
Pradesh Co-operative Tribunals and, to present the case/ records pertaining to
Government and its offices, to appear, act and plead on his behalf and on
behalf of the State Government in all proceedings before the said Tribunals and
includes any Officer authorized by the Registrar of Co-operative Societies for
the said purposes;] (h)
"Rules" means the Andhra Pradesh
Co-operative Societies Rules, 1964; (i)
"Secretary" means the person who is for the
time being discharging the functions of the Secretary to the Tribunal; (j)
"Section" means a section of the Act; (k)
"Tribunal", means the Andhra Pradesh Co-operative
Tribunal, constituted under Section 75 of the Act; (l)
Words and expressions used but not defined shall
have the meaning assigned to them in the Act and the rules made thereunder. CHAPTER
II Head
Quarters, Sittings and Office Hours The Head-quarters and the jurisdiction
of the Tribunal shall be at such place as the Government may, by notification
in the Andhra Pradesh Gazette specify. All Appeals and the Review petitions
shall ordinarily be heard at the Head-quarters of the Tribunal where it is
functioning: Provided that the Chairman may, in
order to facilitate the hearings have sittings at such place within the
jurisdiction of the Tribunal as he may determine. The Tribunal shall hold its sittings
during the same hours as that of the other offices of the Government. The language of the Tribunal shall be
in English: Provided that the parties to a
proceeding before the Tribunal may file documents drawn up in Telugu, if they
so desire. CHAPTER
III Appeals and
Review (1)
An appeal or as the case may be a review
application shall be presented to the Secretary of the Tribunal either by the
party in person or by sending it through a registered post. (2)
When an appeal or a review application is presented
by a Pleader or an authorised agent, it shall be accompanied by a letter of
authority appointing him as such. (3)
Every such application shall be made in accordance
with the provisions of the Act and the rules made thereunder and shall be
accompanied by a challan for the amounts as prescribed under Rule 48. (4)
An appeal preferred shall contain the necessary
parties to the appeal and the authority whose orders are proposed to be taken
in appeal and shall contain the name and address of the party to whom the
notice may be sent. (1)
An appeal under sub-section (1) of Section 76 and a
review application under Section 78 of the Act, shall be in the form of a memo
setting forth concisely the grounds of objections to the decision or order
which is the subject matter of the appeal or review, and shall be accompanied
by the original or a certified copy of the decision or order passed by the
authority competent to pass the said order. Every appeal or review application
shall also be accompanied by as many copies of the memo as there are
respondents in addition to three originals. (2)
All cases standing for trial and decision in appeal
and review before the Courts prior to the Constitution of the Co-operative
Tribunals shall stand transferred to the respective Tribunals having
jurisdiction. Registration of Appeals and Review
Applications (a)
On receipt of an application for appeal or as the
case may be, for review, the Secretary shall endorse on it the date of its
receipt and shall cause in Form A in respect of appeals and in Form 'B' in
respect of review of applications appended to these rules. The Secretary shall
thereafter examine, (i)
Whether the person presenting it has and authority
to do so; and (ii)
Whether it conforms to the provisions of the Act
and the rules made thereunder; (b)
If the Secretary finds that the application does
not conform to the requirement of the Act or the rules made thereunder, he
shall cause it to be returned by making an endorsement on the same and calling
upon the appellant or the review applicant to rectify the defect or defects
within a reasonable period to be specified by him and cause it to be entered in
the remarks column of the Form-A and paste it on the notice board of the
Tribunal. The Secretary may, for sufficient cause, extend the said period, if
the defect or defects are not rectified within the period allowed. The
Secretary shall cause the appeal or review application to be registered in the
prescribed Register [Form-C]. (c)
If the defect or defects are not rectified within
the period allowed, the Secretary shall make a report to that effect to the
Chairman who may reject the appeal or as the case may be the review
applications and affix the same on the notice board of the Tribunal. (d)
If the Secretary is satisfied that the appeal or as
the case may be the review application is, presented properly, he shall cause
the particulars of the same to be entered in the Register in Forms A and B
respectively. Such entries shall be numbered year wise according to the order
in which they are registered. The serial number of the Register shall be given
as the case number of the Appeal as Original Appeal Number. Separate petition
has to be filed for any interim order
required. The petition for interim order
shall be numbered as Miscellaneous Appeal in original appeal: Provided that if more than one appeal
are filed against the same order, they shall be clubbed together and disposed
off by a common order. (a)
An appeal under sub-section (1) of Section 76 or as
the case may be the review application under Section 78 shall be presented
within the period prescribed under the Act : Provided that if any doubt arises as to
the date of receipt of the order by the party aggrieved, the decision of the
Chairman thereon shall be final: Provided further that where an appeal
or as the case may be, a review application is presented within the prescribed
period, but is returned for rectification and if such appeal is again presented
with all the defects rectified within the time allowed, it shall be deemed to
have presented with all the defects rectified within the date specified, it
shall also be deemed to have been presented in time. (b)
When an appeal or as the case may be, a review
application is presented after the period prescribed under the Act, it shall be
accompanied by a petition supported by an affidavit setting forth the facts on
which the appellant or as the case may be review applicant relies to satisfy
the Tribunal that he had sufficient cause for not preferring the appeal or as
the case may be the review application within such time with a specific prayer
for condonation of delay before admitting the appeal or the review application
within such time with specific prayer for condonation of delay before admitting
the appeal or the review application. The Tribunal shall first dispose of the
petition for condonation of delay before admitting the appeal or the review
application. Where a party seeks the interim suspension of the
impugned order, he shall file a separate application for the same. Every such
application shall be supported by an affidavit in respect of applications for
stay or suspension of the impugned orders passed by the departmental authorities,
specially relating to misappropriation of amounts and sanction of benami loans,
no interim orders in
the nature of stay or suspension for a specified period shall be issued unless
the applicant produces a cash deposit of not less than 50% of the amount involved
in the impugned order or furnishes security of equal value as directed by the
Tribunal. In an appeal, if the Tribunal is
satisfied on an affidavit that it is just and reasonable that the operation of
the impugned order be stayed or suspended, (a)
it may, by order, suspend the operation of the
impugned order temporarily after giving notice to the affected persons; or (b)
it may give notice to the respondent or respondents
and after giving an opportunity of being heard to both the parties either
confirm or vacate the order suspending or staying the operation of the impugned
order. (1)
The Chairman of the Tribunal shall distribute work
among the members of the Tribunal subject to the following:- (a)
a single Member shall hear all appeals, review
applications for admission and interim orders
and the Chairman shall entrust this work by rotation to all the members; (b)
all the appeals under sub-section (1) of Section 76
of the Act after admission and interim orders,
if any, shall be heard by two Member Bench consisting of a Judicial Member. The Bench which has disposed of the
appeal under sub-section (1) of Section 76, shall hear and dispose of all
review applications under Section 78 of the Act: Provided that the Chairman constitute a
three Member Bench whenever it is necessary basing on the nature of the case. Explanation: - (i) The single member mentioned in Clause (a) above may be either
the Chairman himself or any other Member. (ii) The Tribunal shall fix a date for
hearing and notice of the dates fixed for hearing shall be issued to the
parties concerned by Registered Post Acknowledgement due in the Form-D annexed
to these rules. A copy of the memorandum of appeal shall also be furnished to
the respondent or respondents. (c)
A copy of the affidavit and the application for
suspension of impugned order shall also be furnished to the respondent or respondents
along with the notice of hearing. CHAPTER
IV Hearings,
Adjournments and Judgments On the date fixed for hearing or any
other date to which the hearing may be adjourned, the party or applicant shall
ordinarily be heard first in support or the appeal, the respondent or his
Advocate shall, if necessary, be heard next and in such cases the party or the
applicant shall be entitled to reply. (1)
Where a party desires that a witness to be examined
by the Tribunal in appeal or cause production of documents for additional
evidence, he may apply to the Presiding Officer through an affidavit for
summoning the persons whose attendance is required either to give evidence or
to produce documents and the Secretary shall issue summons in Form E to the
party or his counsel for service on the person concerned, after the Presiding
Officers pass an order on the affidavit filed. (2)
Where the person to be summoned is a public
servant, the party shall, along with the application for summons, before
summons is granted, pay before the Secretary a sum of money as appears to the
Tribunal to be sufficient to defray travelling and other expenses of the person
summoned for coming to the Tribunal and going back and for one day's
attendance. (3)
Where the person to be summoned is not a public
servant, it shall be the duty of the party who takes out the summons to produce
the witness or cause the production of the documents and where he fails to
produce them, it shall be deemed that he has given up the claim for additional
evidence. The parties to the appeal shall not be
entitled to produce additional evidence whether oral or documentary before the
Tribunal but, (a)
if the authority from whose order the appeal or
application is preferred has refused to admit evidence which ought to have been
admitted, or (b)
if the party seeking the additional evidence must
satisfy the Tribunal that such evidence, notwithstanding, the exercise of due
diligence was not within his knowledge or could not be produced by him before
time when the order under appeal was passed, or (c)
if the Tribunal requires any document to be
produced or any witnesses to be examined so as to enable it to pass just order;
and (d)
for any other sufficient reason Tribunal may allow
such evidence or documents to be produced or witnesses examined: Provided that where such evidence is
received the other party shall be entitled to produce rebutting evidence, if
any. (1)
The Tribunal may, on such terms as it thinks fit
and at any stage adjourn the hearing of the appeals or applications for review
on its own accord by mentioning in the open court or on an oral request or by
an affidavit filed by the petitioner or the respondent. (2)
An application for adjournment shall be presented
with an affidavit by the party or a person who is well acquainted with the
facts of the case. (a)
Each application for an adjournment shall be
stamped with the required Court-fee and copies of the applications shall also
be given to the other party. (1)
If an applicant or the respondent therein dies
while the appeal or review application is pending and it cannot be proceeded
with unless his legal representatives brought on record, the Tribunal shall
adjourn further proceedings to enable the legal representative of the deceased
to be made a party. If such legal representative fails to do so within a period
of sixty days from the date of death of the appellant or review applicant if
the appellant fails to file the petition making the legal representative as per
the appeal or review application, shall abate as regards such deceased
appellant or review applicant as the case may be. (2)
Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (1)
there shall be no abatement of an appeal or review application by reason of the
death of any party between the conclusion of the hearing and passing of the
order but the order may, in such a case, be passed notwithstanding the death
and shall have the same force and effect as if it has been passed before the
death took place. (1)
Whenever an order or abatement has been passed in a
case where the applicant or review applicant has died, his legal heir or
representative in a case where the respondent had died the appellant, may
within sixty days from the date of such order apply to the Tribunal for setting
aside the abatement and the Tribunal may on sufficient cause being shown to its
satisfaction set aside the abatement and proceed with the appeal or review
application. (2)
Where an application under sub-rule (1) has been
filed after more than sixty days from the date of the order, the Tribunal may
condone the delay on a separate application filed for the purpose when the
delay is properly explained. (1)
Every order of the Tribunal shall be in writing and
shall be pronounced in the Court immediately after hearing or on the date fixed
for the purpose, which shall not be more than fifteen days from the date of the
final hearing. (2)
The order shall be pronounced in open Court after
giving notice to the parties concerned. In case the order is not pronounced on
the date fixed. it may be pronounced within fifteen days from the date
originally fixed for the hearing after intimating to the Chairman the reasons
for the delay. (3)
Where the Bench consists of more than two members
the orders of the Tribunal shall be given by the majority of the members. (4)
Where an appeal is heard by a Bench consisting of
two members whether it consists of the Chairman or not, and the members are
divided in opinion, on any point or points, such point or points, shall be
referred to the Full Bench consisting of three members for disposal. (5)
The orders rendered shall not be invalidated in
case of any unfilled vacancy in the Tribunal. (6)
If any case which comes up before a single Member
(who is not a Judicial Member or a Bench of which there is no Judicial Member)
involves a question of Law, such a single member or the Bench may in his or
their discretion, refer such case for decision by a Bench consisting of a
Judicial Member as decided by the Chairman. (7)
The Tribunal shall serve a copy of the order to the
Appellant and the Respondent after disposal. (1)
The parties shall not be entitled for the return of
the documents filed by them before the Tribunal within six months from the date
of the order of the Tribunal. (2)
The party may apply after six months from the date
of the receipt of order with an undertaking to the effect that the documents
shall be produced whenever the Tribunal calls for the same and in such a case,
the documents may be returned to the parties. CHAPTER
V Miscellaneous (1)
Any party to any proceedings before the Tribunal
may apply to the Secretary for the inspection of any documents, or for a
certified copy of any document and for the orders of the Tribunal. (2)
Application for copies or for inspection of the
documents shall be in Form F or, and shall set out the name and address of the
applicant in full, the date of description of the document or order of which a
copy is required. Any application which is not in the proper form shall be
returned for representation in proper form, (3)
Certified copies of documents or order shall be
prepared on a foolscape paper with one inch margin either side and typed in
double space. (4)
Certified copies of documents or order shall be
delivered by the Secretary to the party concerned on payment of fee prescribed
for preparing the copies. (5)
If the Secretary feels any doubt about the
propriety of granting the copy of any document, he shall place the application
before the Presiding Officer and act in accordance with his orders. (6)
Notwithstanding anything contained in this rule,
certified copies of orders or documents shall be supplied to the Registrar free
of cost. (1)
The notice required to be issued by the Tribunal
shall be sent to the parties by Registered Post with Acknowledgment due, as per
the addresses furnished in the appeal or review application. An acknowledgment
containing the signature of the addresses or any members of his family or his
authorised agent when delivered or on endorsement by the postal authorities to
the effect that the notice was refused by the addressee shall, unless the
contrary is proved, be deemed to be sufficient to hold that the notice was duly
served. (2)
Where the Tribunal is satisfied that the addressee
is evading service or that it is not possible to serve the notice in the
ordinary way, the Tribunal may take action to summon him for taking personal
delivery by issuing a warrant by exercising powers under Section 120 of the
Andhra Pradesh Co-operative Societies Act. (1)
All miscellaneous petitions shall be entered in the
Register in Form-G and numbered seriatum, and a mention to that effect has to
be made in the Register of original appeals. (2)
All applications for copies of documents or orders
on registration shall be entered in the register in Form No. H and numbered
seriatum. (3)
All applications for inspection of documents on
registration shall be entered in register in Form-F and numbered seriatum. (1)
Subject to the provisions of sub-rule (2), the
Presiding Officer or the Secretary acting under instructions of the Presiding
Officer, may, on an application made by .the party, order the refund of,- (a)
the full fee paid where the fee was paid by mistake
or in the manner not prescribed in sub-rule (2) of Rule 7; (b)
the excess amount, where the amount paid is in
excess of the prescribed fee; and (c)
he full fee paid, where the payment of fee is not
followed by an appeal or review application for which, the fee was paid. (2)
No refund of fee shall be made if the application
for such refund is not made within one year from the date of remittance of fee. (3)
The application for refund of fee shall be made in
the Form of memorandum setting forth the grounds on which refund is sought and
such application shall be stamped with a Court-fee Stamp of Rs. 3/-. Whenever these rules are silent on the
question of any procedure, the Tribunals shall follow the procedure stipulated
under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Central Act V of 1908). Form
A [See Rule 9] Register
of Appeal cases 1.
Serial No. : 2.
Name and address of the appellant : 3.
Appeal No. : 4.
Number of appellants concerned : 5.
By proceedings being quashed : 6.
By new trial or further enquiry being ordered : 7.
Any reference made : 8.
Actual number of days during which the appeal
lasted : 9.
Date of disposal of the case : 10.
Remarks : 11.
Initials of the Officers : Form
B [See Rule 9] Register
of Review cases 1.
Serial No.: 2.
Name and address of the person who filed the
application for Review : 3.
Review No. : 4.
Number of persons concerned : 5.
By proceedings being quashed : 6.
By new trial or further enquiry being ordered : 7.
Any reference made : 8.
Actual number of days during which the Review
lasted : 9.
Date of disposal of the Review : 10.
Remarks : 11.
Initials of the Officer : Form
C [See Rule 9(b)] Before
the Andhra Pradesh Co-operative Tribunal at ......... Appeal or Review No. .......... of 19
............... Appellant vs. Respondent To The above named appellant. You have filed an Appeal/Review against
the orders of the ......................... dated .................... It does not comply with the provisions
of the Andhra Pradesh Co?operative Societies Act, 1964 and the rules made
thereunder in the following aspects : ..................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................... You are hereby required to remedy the
defects within ....................of the receipt of this notice by you. (Given under the Hand and Seal of the
Co-operative Tribunal) By Order Secretary Date : Seal : Form
D [See Rule 13] Before
the Andhra Pradesh Co-operative Tribunal at ..................... Memorandum No. ............ of 19
................. Appellant vs. Respondent To The above named appellant. You have filed an Appeal against the
orders of the ......................... dated .................. The appeal is posted for hearing on. Hence you are hereby required to be
present in this Tribunal without fail otherwise the appeal is treated as ex parte. (Given under the Hand and Seal of the
Co-operative Tribunal) By Order Secretary Date Seal : Form
E [See Rule 15] Before
the Andhra Pradesh Co-operative Tribunal at ............ Memorandum No. ................. of 19
................. Appellant vs. Respondent To Mr. ................. The above named person has preferred an
appeal. No. ..............against the orders of
.................... You have been included as to tender
evidence in the aforementioned case. You are, therefore requested to make
available yourself in the Tribunal with the following documents on: 1. 2. 3. 4. (Given under the Hand and Seal of the
Co-operative Tribunal) Secretary Date : Seal : Form
F [See Rule 24(3)1 1.
Serial No. 2.
Name and address of the applicant : (1)
3 Appeal/Revision/Misc. Application No. : 3.
Number of applicants/Revision Petitioners or Misc.
applicants : 4.
Document applied for inspection : 5.
Date of application made for inspection: 6.
Date on which the document was made ready for
inspection 7.
Date of inspection : 8.
Signature of the applicant who inspected the
document 9.
Remarks : Secretary Form
G [See Rule 24(1)] Register
of Miscellaneous Applications 1.
Serial No. : 2.
Name and address of the applicant : 3.
Miscellaneous Petition No. : 4.
Appeal No. : 5.
Number of appellants concerned : 6.
By proceedings being quashed : 7.
By new trial or further enquiry being ordered: 8.
Any reference made : 9.
Actual number of days during which the appeal
lasted : 10.
Date of disposal of the case : 11.
Remarks : 12.
Initials of the officer : Form
H [See Rule 24(2)] 1.
Serial No.: 2.
Name and address of the applicant : 3.
Appeal/Revision/Miscellaneous application No. : 4.
Number of Applicants/Revision petitioners or
Miscellaneous applicants : 5.
Date of application made for the copy of: 6.
Date on which the copy was made ready: 7.
Date on which the copy was communicated: 8.
Remarks :Andhra Pradesh Co-Operative Tribunal (Procedure)
Rules, 1994