JUDGMENT

Lokeshwar Singh Panta, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. This appeal by special leave filed by Shri Chandra Prakash Singh and others [hereinafter referred to as the Appellants] is directed against the Judgment and Order dated 27.01.2005 passed by the Division Bench of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad in Civil Misc. Writ Petition No.38011 of 2004. By the impugned judgment, the High Court dismissed the Writ Petition in which prayer for quashing of the examination for promotion of the Clerk-cum-Cashier and Officer Scale I to the post of Officers Scale-I and Officer Scale- II respectively and for quashing the resolution passed by the Board of Directors of the Gramin Bank on 28.08.2004 and other consequential reliefs, came to be dismissed.

3. The relevant and necessary facts giving rise to the filing of the appeal may be stated. Basti Gramin Bank [hereinafter, referred to as Gramin Bank] is one of the Regional Rural Banks constituted under Section 3 of the Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976 [hereinafter referred to as the Act]. Section 6(2) of the Act lays down that Gramin Bank is sponsored by the State Bank of India which has got 35% shareholding, whereas the Government of India has got 50% shareholding while State of U.P. has got balance 15% shareholding. The Central Government in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 29 read with Section 17 of the Act, after consultation with the National Bank and the Sponsor Bank, notified the Regional Rural Banks (Appointment and Promotion of Officers and Other Employees) Rules, 1998 [hereinafter referred to as the Rules]. The Third Schedule of the Rules deals with the appointment to different categories of officers and other employees to Group A, B and C either by direct recruitment or by promotion. Clause 2 of the Schedule deals with the promotion/appointment to the post of Scale II Officer while Clause 3 deals with the promotion/appointment to the post of Scale I officer. Clause 2 also provides that the post of Scale II Officer shall be filled entirely by promotion on the basis of seniority-cum-merit. It further provides that the selection of the candidates shall be made by the Committee on the basis of written test, interview and assessment of Performance Appraisal Report for the preceding five years as an officer in Scale I and that the Committee for considering promotion shall consist of the Chairman of the concerned Regional Rural Bank, a Director nominated by the Sponsor Bank and a Director nominated by the National Bank. Sixty (60) marks are prescribed for the written test while twenty (20) marks are fixed for the interview test and twenty (20) marks for Performance Appraisal Report. So far as the promotion/appointment to the post of Scale I officer is concerned, Clause 3 provides that 50% shall be appointed by direct recruitment and 50% by promotion and that promotions shall be made on the basis of seniority-cum-merit. In the case of direct recruitment, the selection of candidates shall be made by the Banking Services Recruitment Board on the basis of written test and interview, while in the case of promotion, the selection of the candidates shall be made by the Committee on the basis of written test, interview and Performance Appraisal Report. The composition of the committee is the same as in the case of promotion/ appointment to the post of Scale II officer but 70 marks have been prescribed on the basis of the written test, 20 marks have been allotted for interview and the remaining 10 marks for Performance Appraisal Report.

4. In the year 2001, 47 posts of Scale II officer and 16 posts of Scale I officer were required to be filled in the Gramin Bank. The Board of Directors of the Gramin Bank in its meeting held on 20.09.2001 approved the holding of the written examination by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection, Mumbai [hereinafter referred to as the Banking Institute, Mumbai]. A Circular was issued on 09.07.2002, fixing 18th August, 2002 the date on which the writ