PUSHAN MAJUMDAR Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Petitioners before me in this batch of writ petitions are all academic staff of the Indian Association for Cultivation of Science. This is a society registered under the provisions of Act XXI of 1860.I shall refer to the society in the later part of this judgment as the said society.

(2.) The grievance of the Petitioners is over certain disputes relating to service in the said institute. Appearing for the institute, Mr. Sengupta, learned Counsel has raised a preliminary objection on maintainability of these writ petitions on the ground that his client is not "State" or other authority within the meaning of Article 12 or Article 226 of the Constitution of India, and hence not amenable to the Constitutional Writ Jurisdiction of this Court. Relying on a decision of a Division Bench of this Court involving the same institute in the case of Director, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Jadavpur and Ors. v. Ashoke Kumar,1992 1 CLJ 319, he seeks dismissal of all these writ petitions on this ground. In this judgment, the status of this very organisation was tested by the Hon'ble Division Bench to ascertain whether it fulfilled the character of "State" or "other authority" or not and it was held:

(3.) The reason as to why the Hon'ble Division Bench came to such a conclusion appears from paragraphs 4 and 5 of the judgment in the said report, in which it has been held: