Jaipur: The principal seat of Rajasthan High Court in Jodhpur has set aside the appointment of retired Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna as a one-man commission to adjudicate claims and counterclaims over properties attached in connection with the Adarsh Credit Co-operative Society matter.However, a division bench of Justice Munnuri Laxman and Justice Sangeeta Sharma declined to interfere with the attachment orders and directions maintaining status quo over the properties until the pending writ petitions are finally decided.The bench passed the order on Aug 18 while deciding a batch of special appeals, including those filed by Megha Tak and Mahesh Kumar Tak, challenging interim orders passed during the proceedings relating to the attached properties.The appellants argued that the liquidator of Adarsh Credit Co-operative Society had no authority to attach third-party properties and that appointing a retired CJI to adjudicate the disputes was contrary to the mechanism prescribed under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002.Opposing the appeals, Additional Solicitor General Bharat Vyas submitted that the challenged orders were interim directions and final adjudication was pending before the single judge. He also argued that maintaining status quo was necessary to safeguard the properties and submitted that the appointment of the retired CJI had been made with the consent of the parties. The appellants disputed this, saying the appointment was a discretionary order of the single judge.The division bench observed that the July 28 order did not refer to any specific agreement between the parties for appointing the retired CJI to adjudicate the disputes.The bench, however, did not decide whether the liquidator had the authority to attach the disputed properties, as the issue is already pending before the single judge. It directed that the attachment and status quo orders remain in force to safeguard the properties.The court also held that the liquidator should not have directed a change in the ownership name through an interim order and directed that the status quo as it existed on July 9, 2026, be maintained.The appeals were allowed and disposed of, with the matters remitted to the single judge for hearing and final adjudication of the pending writ petitions.
