The Registrar, Co-operative Societies, does not have the power to lay down the staffing pattern or the mode of recruitment to the different posts in a Co-operative Society.

( 1 ) THE fourth respondent in the writ petition, who was impleaded as a party subsequent to the filing of the petition, is the appellant. An advertisement had been issued by the respondent No. 1 Bank for appointment of three direct recruits in category III posts. While drawingup the panel for appointment, after holding interview, the appellant and the third respondent were also included in the panel for future vacancies as the 4th and the 5th names in the panel. When their appointment orders were about to be issued in respect of vacancies which arose subsequently, Writ Petition No. 13660/86 was filed by some of the in service personnel challenging their empanelment for future posts. The writ petition having been allowed by the learned single Judge, the appeal has been preferred.

( 2 ) BEFORE the learned single Judge the writ petition wascontested by the Bank taking the stand inter alia of the respondent No. 1 being not state and that a petition under Article 226 against it was not maintainable. The plea was negatived holding a circular of a Registrar, Co-operative Societies to be statutory in nature and that the circular having been violated in the empanelment of the appellant and respondent No. 3, the writ petition was maintainable.

( 3 ) MR. Duba V. N. Babu, learned Counsel for the appellant, has submitted, in urging the appeal, of the writ petition to have been disposed of on erroneous basis treating Circular Rc. No. 5199/79-Cl (A) dated 15-3-1979 to have been issued under Rule 28 (1} of the Andhra Pradesh Co-operative Societies Rules, 1964 though the circular in fact, was not issued under Rule 28 (1) and that secondly under that rule the only authority vested in the Registrar is to prescribe the qualifications required for the respective posts and the securities to be furnished in respect of the posts, but that the rule does not authorise him to either devisea staffing pattern orspecify the mode of recruitment. Itappears from the judgment under appeal that the learned single Judge took the view of the circular to be statutory and the empanelment of the appellant and respondent No. 3 having been inconsistent with the circular, the empanelment made to have been bad for which reason they could not be appointed.

( 4 ) LEARNED Counsel for the appellant has filed the purported circular separately, which is also accepted by the learned Counsel for the respondents as the proceed ings referred to in the Judgment. Besides, another circular of the Registrar, Co-operative Societies of 15-3-1979 i. e. , on the same date and having on the same number, have also been filed as additional material paper in the appeal. It is a circular dealing with the subject of re-organisation of staffing pattern and its implementation, as also further instructions relating to Co-operative Central Banks and apart from prescribing the educational qualifications for different posts, also purports to say the manner in which promotions and direct recruitments are to be made. The circular is not stated to have been issued under Rule 28 (1 ). So far as the other circular of the same date referred in the impugned judgment is concerned, it appears actually to be a proceeding of the same date issued under the circular. It refers to Rule 28 (1) in its context. The proceedings in paragraph 4 referred to the stipulations in the circular and stated that the qualifications required for the posts are relaxed under Rule 28 (3) to enable the Co-operative Central Banks to fill up the posts of Deputy General Manager (Development), Assistant General Managers and Managers (i. e. , the Category III posts) under the reorganised staffing pattern from among the employees in the next lower category to the extentof vacancies earmarked for promotion by the Management of the Bank and the Management of the Bank is permitted to fill up such vacancies by promotion according to the criteria fixed in the circular i. e. , whena vacancy in higher category is earmarked f