The much-touted judgement in the NCUI reorganization of constituencies case was not delivered on Friday, as the two parties failed to deposit fees to the Sole Arbitrator Mrs Vriti Anand.
The Sole Arbitrator reserved the judgement and rescheduled the hearing after a week. The two sides- Ashok Dabas-NLCF and NCUI have been asked to clear the dues in the interregnum, sources said.
Reacting to the development, NCUI Chief Executive N Sataynarayana said “We go by the advice of our Advocate who said that fees are due on the plaintiff”. As Dabas has already withdrawn the case, NCUI already knows the content of the judgement and has no eagerness to pay for a verdict which has become infructuous any way, said a source to Indian Cooperative.
For Dabas, paying fees is no less challenging as he has already locked horns with the NLCF strongman Sanjeev Kushalkar on the issue of a proxy Chairman imposed by him in the apex co-op federation. With NLCF no more interested in the case, Dabas may find it tough to cough out the fees, sources said.
“The verdict, even if known is important in the sense that one cannot appeal against the same till it is formally delivered”, said a legal expert.
Meanwhile, the meeting of Dabas with NCUI, sources said, did not take place. “Which meeting? When?” asked the CE when Indian Cooperative asked him about it as told by Dabas. It bears recall that Dabas had told Indian Cooperative that the final modalities of withdrawal would be discussed an hour before the judgement.
The NCUI sources said that NCUI President Dr Chandra Pal Singh is coming to Delhi from Jhansi on Monday (today) and Dabas may meet him to work out the nitty gritty of withdrawal, which includes payment of fees to the Sole Arbitrator.
“Dabas cannot seek money from him who asked him to withdraw and NCUI President alone can help him”, quipped a co-operator jokingly hinting that it was one of BJP Ministers who pressurized him to quit.
Earlier, Dabas could not offer any convincing argument behind this withdrawal. “It is my considered opinion”, he kept on harping without saying much. Sources say the ministry brought pressure to bear on Dabas to quit the fight. Indian Cooperative sources also hint at some truce between NCUI and the Ministry on the issue.
The contour of arrangement suggests that the NCUI current leadership has agreed to the idea of having a candidate as the President of NCUI as dictated by the Ministry and hence this withdrawal.