TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1988 (6) TMI 331
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....ct had framed bye-laws-regulating the terms and conditions of service of its employees. Bye-laws of some of the societies prescribe 60 years as the age of superannuation. Sub-section (3) of S. 80 of the Act empowers the Government to make rules regulating the conditions of service of employees of different co-operative societies specified in sub-section (1). Invoking this power the rules were amended and the same came into force on the 1st of January, 1974. The entire Chapter XV regulating the conditions of service of employees of the societies was introduced for the first time by the said Notification. Rule 183 in Chapter XV deals with the age limit and sub-rule (2) of rule 183 provides that no employee shall be eligible to continue in the service of a society after be attains the age of 58 years. If rule 183(2) alone was there the employees of all the societies who were in service on the 1st of January, 1974 when the amended rules came into force would be required to retire on attaining the age of 58 years irrespective of any provision to the contrary contained in the respective bye-laws of the societies. But there was a saving clause added under rule 200 of the rules, which read....
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...., therefore, apply to the existing employees who were appointed prior to 1-1-1974 and were still in service on the date of coming into force of the new rules. The Circulars issued by the Registrar as defined under the Act. compelling the existing employees appointed before 1-1-1974, to retire on attaining the age of 58 years is in conflict with the protection afforded under rule 200 and hence they cannot stand and be enforced. We, however, make it clear that when the bye-laws or rules of any society did not fix the retirement age, the employees of those societies will have to retire on attaining the age of 58 years as prescribed under the present rules. 4. Thus it was declared that the right to higher age of superannuation conferred by the bye-laws was saved. After declaring the law as aforesaid, the prayer of the petitioners in those cases for a declaration that they are entitled to continue in service till they attain the age of 60 years was negatived on the ground that consistently this Court has held that no writ will lie against a co-operative society. This Court did not examine the relevant bye-laws for determining as to what is the age of superannuation. No declaration was ....
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....astly been referred to the Pull Bench and the Pull Bench while issuing its ruling on the interpretation and application of rule 200 observed that the conflicting interpretation could have been avoided if the rule had been drafted with greater precision and clarity, to convey without any doubt the intent and define without any uncertainty the content of the saving provision. The amendment is to make the saving clause more specific so as to depict the real intent of the rule making authority." 7. On the language of rule' 200 as now substituted, there can be no doubt that it applies to all the existing employees of the co-operative societies on the date on which the said rule came into force and that therefore their right in regard to the age of retirement under the existing conditions of service are not saved. 8. Challenging rule 200 as substituted it was firstly contended that the rule making authority has no power to make retrospective rules, no such power having been conferred by the Statute. There is no substance in this contention as the Act has been amended by the Kerala Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Act, 1988 amending Ss. 80 and 109, expressly conferring power to make r....
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....sequent stage. It is also well within its rights to make a rule distinct and different from the one which it had made earlier. It is thus open to the rule-making authority to make a rule different from the one that was interpreted by a court of law. Apart from interpreting rule 200, the rights of the parties were not determined by this Court in the earlier decision. On the contrary this Court made it clear that it cannot adjudicate upon the rights of the parties as no writs lie against the co-operative societies. It is precisely for tbis reason that this Court did not embark upon an examination of the by-laws of the co-operative societies to ascertain as to what is the age of superannuation prescribed in respect of different co-operative societies. No declaration has been made in the said judgment declaring that any of the petitioners are governed by a particular age of superannuation. No direction has been issued to any co-operative society not to retire the petitioners until they attain a particular age of superannuation. This was not done because tbis Court took the view that no writ or direction can be issued against a co-operative society. Hence we have no hesitation in taking....