JUDGMENT

Kuldip Singh, J.-Special leave granted.

2. A learned single Judge of the Karnataka High Court allowed the bunch - petitions filed by the respondents and quashed the promotions made by the Cauvery Gramina Bank, Mysore (the Bank) to the cadre of Senior Managers on the short ground that the guidelines issued to the Bank by the National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (the NABARD) were not followed while making the promotions. A Division Bench of the High Court upheld the judgment of the learned single Judge. The appellants- affected officers - have challenged by way of this appeal the correctness of the judgment of the learned single Judge and that of the Division Bench of the High Court.

3. The Bank was sponsored by the State Bank of Mysore and established in October 1976 under the Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976. The NABARD was established in the year 1982 with a view to look after the agricultural and rural development in the country. The NABARD has been issuing guidelines from time to time regarding the conditions of service of the employees of the rural banks in the country. The NABARD issued a circular dated December 31,1984 providing guidelines for appointm