JUDGMENT

S.C. agrawal, J.—This appeal is directed against the judgment dated May 7, 1980 of the High Court of Delhi whereby Civil Writ Petition No. 316 of 1980 filed by Smt Mohinder Kaur, the respondent herein, was allowed and the disciplinary proceedings and the order dated December 31, 1979 terminating the services of the respondent as well as her suspension were quashed and it was declared that the respondent is a regular trained graduate teacher in the Khalsa Middle School.

2. On May 1, 1961, Khalsa Educational Society (hereinafter referred to as the Society) was formed by the members of the Sikh community of Sarojini Nagar, New Delhi. The Society established a primary school known as Khalsa Primary School which was later on upgraded as Khalsa Middle School, Sarojini Nagar. The Society was registered under the Societies Registration Act on February 7, 1962. According to the Memorandum of Association of the Society the aims and the objectives of the Society are (a) to provide educational facilities for the children of Sikh community; and (b) to promote the cause of education in general, and Punjabi in particular, by opening the educational and literary institutions, libraries, reading rooms or other things deemed suitable by the Society. Under the Rules and Regulations the Society comprises (a) The Education Committee, and (b) the Managing Committee. Rule 5 of the Rules and Regulations (as originally framed in 1962) prescribed that only a person who is a Sikh as defined in the Sikh Gurdwara Act of 1925 could be a member of the Education Committee. Under Rule 6 the same condition was applicable for membership of the Society. Rule 21 provided that the Education Committee is the supreme authority of the Society. The functions of the Education Committee are, inter alia, to elect ten members including the office bearers of the Managing Committee, to pass the financial budget of the Society, and to amend the Rules, if and when necessary. The Managing Committee of the Society consists of seventeen members out of whom three are to be nominated by the Executive Committee of Shri Guru Singh Sabha (Regd.) Sarojini Nagar, New Delhi from among themselves, ten members are elected by the Education Committee, two members are nominated by the Education Department of Delhi Administration, the Headmistress/Headmaster of Khalsa School, who is an ex-officio member of the Society, and one member who shall be representative of the school staff. The Managing Committee is vested with the immediate management of the institutions under the Society.

3. On July 25, 1963, the Rules and Regulations of the Society were amended and in Rule 5 relating to the eligibility of the members of the Education Committee, the words "any person shall be eligible for membership of the Education Committee provided he/she" were substituted by the words "any person irrespective of religion, caste or creed shall be eligible for the membership of the Education Committee provided he/she" and clause (a) of Rule 5 which required that the person be "a Sikh as defined in the Sikh Gurdwara Act of 1925" was deleted .The appellants have stated that this was done in order to bring the Rules of the Society in conformity with the requirements of the Delhi Administration/Delhi Development Authority to obtain allotment of land for the school building. On April 9, 1973 the Delhi School Education Act, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as the Education Act) came into force and the Khalsa Middle School was granted recognition under the said Act. By resolution dated July 1, 1979, the Rules and Regulations of the Society were again amended. Rule 4(i) of the amended Rules is in the following terms :

"4. Education Committee

(i) Eligibility: Any person belonging to the Sikh Community as defined in the Sikh Gurdwara Act of 1925 shall be eligible for the membership of the Education Committee provided he/she :

(a) has attained the age of 21 years;

(b) is literate and knows Punjabi in Gurmukhi script; and

(c)