The main legal point established is that a writ petition is maintainable only to review an order passed by an authority in exercise of statutory powers.

JUDGMENT :

1. The Writ Petition filed by the appellant was dismissed by the High Court on the short ground that the appellant could file a civil suit for appropriate relief, if so advised.

2. The appellant is challenging an order of termination of his services by the Janata Cooperative Sugar Mills Ltd., Boghpur, in terms of a resolution passed by its Board of Directors. The Sugar Mills is a Cooperative Society registered under the Punjab State Cooperative Societies Act and there is no averment that it is an instrumentality of the State. The High Court was, therefore, right in the light of the decision of this Court in Ajay Hasia (1981 - 2 S.C.R. 1979) in holding that a writ petition was not maintainable.

3. Counsel for the appellant submitted that in this case an order has been passed by the Registrar of Co-operative Societies an appeal preferred by appellant against the decision of the Board of Directors and that, therefore, a writ petition would lie against this order. Counsel for the appellant relied, in this context, on certain observations made by decision of this Court in Deoki Nandan v. Agra District Cooperative Bank 1972 SLR 803. If the order had been passed by the Registrar in exercise of his statutory powers under the Cooperative Societies' Act, a case for the maintainability of a petition under Article 226 would have been made out. But in the present case the Registrar is seen to have acted in terms of a bye-law of the society namely - bye-Law 41 (xiii) - which enabled an aggrieved employee to prefer an appeal to the Registrar. It is true that the position was some what similar in Deoki Nandan's case (supra) and certain observations made therein support the appellant. It is seen however that these observations were made, in passing after refusing to the respondent bank permission to raise a plea against the maintainability of a writ petition. That apart, it has been held by this Court that the bye-laws of a Cooperative Society cannot be held to be a law or to have the force of law Cooperative Central Bank Ltd. v. Industrial Tribunal, 1970 - 1 S.C.R. 205. A writ petition is maintainable only to review an order passed by an authority in exercise of his statutory powers and that is not the case here.

4. In the circumstances, we think the High Court rightly dismissed the writ petition and hence dismiss the appeal. However, in the circumstances, we make no order as to costs.