JUDGMENT

MISRA, J. :—By the present petition under Article 32 of the Constitution the petitioner seeks to challenge the appointment of Shri B. P. Adhikari, respondent No. 4, as the Director of the Indian Statistical Institute, respondent No. 1.

2. The Indian Statistical Institute is a Society registered under the Societies Registration Act. It is governed by the Indian Statistical Institute Act, 1959 (hereinafter referred to as the Act). Its control completely vests in the Union of India, respondent No. 5. It is wholly financed by the Union of India. All the functions of the Institute are controlled by the Union of India, as is evident from the various provisions of the Act. Under Section 8 of the Act the annual work programmes of the Institute and the general financial, estimates in respect of such work are settled by committees appointed by the Central Government and the Institute obviously cannot undertake any research or training programmes without the approval of the Central Government. The Institute carries on an integrated programme of training, teaching and research in statistics and application of statistical techniques in other disciplines. The Institute has been declared