Judgment :

GANGULY, J.

1. The Respondent No. 1 Shri Raja Ram Verma was appointed to the post of Assistant Registrar at Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (hereinafter I.I.T.) on 11.11.1983. As per Statute 13 of I.I.T., the respondent was due to retire on 31.08.2000 on attaining the age of 60 years. His case before us is that he should have been allowed to continue upto the age of 62 years.

2. I.I.T. Kanpur is a body incorporated under the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 (hereinafter `the Act'). Section 27 of the Act provides for framing of first Statutes by the I.I.T. Such statutes are to deal with matters mentioned in Section 26. Section 26 (g) provides for framing of statutes relating to terms and conditions of service of teachers and other staff of the I.I.T. Section 31 of the Act provides for the establishment of Council which is a central body. Under Section 33 of the Act the general duty of the Council is to coordinate the activities of the Institute and under Section 33(2)(b) one of the general duties of the Council is to lay down the policies regarding cadres, method of recruitment and conditions of service of employees amongst other things of common interest.

3. St