BRIJ BIHARI SINGH Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioners in the two writ applications have a few contentions in common. They belonged to different establishmeats, employers are different, impugned actions are different, yet since main issues are common, we propose to dispose of their respective applications by a common judgment.

(2.) In C. W. J. C. No. 7439 of 1988 the orders impugned has been made by the respondent No. 2 cancelling an out of turn promotion granted to the petitioner by the Board of Directors of the Bihar State Co-operative Marketing Union Limited, a Society registered under the Provision of the Bihar and Orissa Co-operative Societies Act, 1935 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Act'). Petitioner has been served with a Memo dated 22-8-1988 stating that an out of turn promotion given to him by the Resolution No 18 of the Board of Directors at its meeting dated 14-2-1987 and communicated to him vide Memo No. M/4735 dated 9-6-1987 was cancelled. Petitioner in C W J C No. 2076 of 1989 has impugned the order of the respondent No. 2 therein made on review of the Resolution of the Board of Directors of Land Development Bank, Bihar, a Society registered under Bihar and Orissa Co-opetotive Societies Act reverting him to his substantive lower post after cancelling the out of turn promotion granted to him vide Resolution No 4 at the meeting of the Board of the Development Bank dated 4-12-1986.

(3.) Many details of the facts stated by the petitioners in their respective applications and the respondents in their respectiv e counter-affidavits are not required for the disposal of their respective applications. It is, however, not in dispute that when the petitioners were given out of turn promotion by their respective employers, they were holding appointment and accordingly a contract of service with Co-operative Societies which had no obligation of a State under Article 12 of the Constitution of India and which determined their rules of business by such bye-laws which were framed by them or requisition which had no force of a Statute. Petitioners, thus, served their out of turn promotion under their respective employers who were not a State under Article 12 of the Constitution of India. The State Government, however, entered upon the administration of the two Societies by appointing Administrators and superseding the Societies under Section 41(6) of the Bihar and Orissa Co-operative Societies Act, 1935. The State Government then promulgated the Bihar Ordinance 17 of 1988 repealing some of the provisions of the Act including Section 41 (6) thereof and introducing certain new provision including one re-numbered as Section 14, sub-sectioa (5) stating, "notwithstanding anything contained in any provisions of this Act, rules made thereunder and the bye-laws of the Society, the existing Managing Committee of a registered Society in respect of which the State Government has power to nominate Chairman and other members of the Managing Committee in accordance with proviso (i), (ii) and (iii) of sub-section (4) shall cease to exist from the date of promulgation of this Ordinance and its management shall vest in the State Government. The State Government shall appoint an Administrator for the management of the affairs of such registered Society till elections are held in accordance with provisions of this Act." Exercising its power, the State Government took over the management of the aforementioned two Societies and appointed Administrators namely respondent No. 4 in C. W. J. C. No. 7439 of 1988 and respondent No. 2 in C. W. J. C. No. 2076 of 19891 The two Administrators holding management of the two Societies in their hands on behalf of the respondent-State issued the aforementioned impugned orders demoting the petitioners in one case after cancelling the out of turn promotion granted to the petitioner and in the other after reviewing the resolution of the superseded Board to grant out of turn promotion to the petitioner.