BHAVSAR URMIBEN KANAIYALAL Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The point for consideration before this specially constituted Bench is as to whether the Gujarat State Social Welfare Board is a 'State' within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution of India. Reference is made to this Bench by the Division Bench of this Court vide order dated 18.07.2014.

(2.) Since it is the question noted above, which only needs to be answered by this Bench, the merits of the petition, which is dismissed by the learned Single Judge on the ground of that being not maintainable, need not be gone into and therefore whether to grant any relief to the petitioners would be left to the Division Bench which is seized of the Letters Patent Appeal, however, for the limited purpose, as to under what circumstances the reference is made, the following aspects are noted.

(3.) 3.1 The petitioners, who are working with the Gujarat State Social Welfare Board, asked for uniform implementation of the Government Resolution dated 13.03.1995, for all the employees, by which higher pay-scale is ordered to be given to the employees of the Gujarat State Social Welfare Board. The same was granted to some of the persons and is denied to some other persons. Under these circumstances, a petition being Special Civil Application No.207 of 2011 was filed. It is this petition, which was contested by the respondent Board, principally contending that, the writ petition is not maintainable against this Board, since it is not 'State' within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution of India. Reliance was placed on the decision (of learned Single Judge) of this Court in the case of P.K. Khalsa versus Gujarat State Social Welfare Advisory Board, 1995 2 GLH 339. Reliance was also placed on the decision of the Division Bench of this Court recorded on Letters Patent Appeal No.812 of 1995. Accepting the said preliminary objection, the said petition came to be dismissed as 'not maintainable'. While holding the petition to be not maintainable, the learned Single Judge has otherwise not gone into the merits of the matter.