S.S.Sandhawala, J.

1. Does Rule 49A of the Bihar Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1930, suffer from the vice of arbitrariness and is consequently violative of Article 14 of the Constitution? Who is the appointing authority of the members of the Bihar Engineering Service Class-I - The Governor or the Council of Ministers? This is the twin question which necessitates this reference to the Full Bench. Equally at issue is the correctness of view of the Division Bench in the case of Bachcho Lal Das V/s. State of Bihar,

2. Shorn of surplusages, the writ petitioner, Sri Narayan Jha, an Executive Engineer in the Department of Irrigation, Bihar, assails the order of his suspension in Annexture; 9, dated 29th of August, 1983 passed, admitted under Rule 49A of the Bihar Civil Services (Classifications, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1930 (hereinafter referred to as the Rules). It is first challenged on the ground of the very constitutionality of the said rule and, in the alternative, that the same is not in consonance therewith in so far as it has not been passed by the appointing authority, which is claimed to be the Council of Ministers itself.

3. Despite the s