1. The petitioner and the respondent No. 4 were rival candidates for being appointed as the Principal of Sar- dar Patel Memorial College. Biharsharif (hereinafter referred to as "the college"), and the respondent No. 4 was appointed by the order contained in Annexure 13, which is challenged in the present writ application as illegal. It is said that the appointment was made in pursuance of a general direction given by the Chancellor in his letter Annexure 19. There is also a prayer for quashing the said direction.

2. According to the ease in the writ application, the petitioner was appointed as the Principal of the College in 1974 by the Governing Body and the College Service Commission accorded concurrence in 1977 as per Annexure 4 to the petitioners appointment for a period of three months. Steps were taken for permanent appointment to the post and an advertisement was issued, by the College Service Commission. Both the petitioner and respondent No. 4 were applicants and their cases were considered by the College Service Commission (respondent No. 3). The Commission did not recommend the name of the petitioner. The respondent No. 4 was recommended as the first nominee and