Mandatory pre-deposit for revision against recovery certificates cannot be bypassed by labeling the proceeding suo motu.

A revision or application challenging a recovery certificate under the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act could not be entertained without first depositing fifty per cent of the recoverable dues under Section 154(2A). The statutory pre-deposit applied to applications for revisional relief, and the proceeding could not be treated as suo motu merely because it was not framed as a formal memorandum of appeal. The court therefore treated the deposit condition as mandatory and held that the revisional authority lacked jurisdiction to proceed without compliance.

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Issues: Whether a revision or application against a recovery certificate under the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960 could be entertained without prior deposit of fifty per cent of the recoverable dues, and whether the proceeding could be treated as suo motu so as to avoid the statutory precondition.

Analysis: Section 154 confers revisional power on the State Government and the Registrar, either suo motu or on application, to examine and, where necessary, modify, annul or reverse the order passed by a subordinate authority. Sub-section (2A) imposes an express statutory bar on entertaining any application for revision against a recovery certificate issued under Section 101 unless the applicant first deposits fifty per cent of the total recoverable dues with the concerned society. The filing, though not in the form of a formal memorandum of appeal, was still an application by the petitioner seeking revisional relief and could not be treated as a suo motu proceeding merely to bypass the pre-deposit requirement. The statutory condition had not been complied with, and the revisional authority could not validly entertain the matter.

Conclusion: The pre-deposit requirement under Section 154(2A) was mandatory, the proceeding was not truly suo motu, and the challenge to the High Court's order failed.

Ratio Decidendi: A revision or application against a recovery certificate under Section 154(2A) cannot be entertained unless the statutory pre-deposit of fifty per cent of the recoverable dues is made, and the requirement cannot be avoided by merely styling the proceeding as suo motu.

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