Paresh Upadhyay, J.

1. The point for consideration before this specially constituted Bench is as to whether the Gujarat State Social Welfare Board is a 'State' within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution of India. Reference is made to this Bench by the Division Bench of this Court vide order dated 18.07.2014. Since it is the question noted above, which only needs to be answered by this Bench, the merits of the petition, which is dismissed by the learned single Judge on the ground of that being not maintainable, need not be gone into and therefore whether to grant any relief to the petitioners would be left to the Division Bench which is seized of the Letters Patent Appeal, however, for the limited purpose, as to under what circumstances the reference is made, the following aspects are noted.

2.1 The petitioners, who are working with the Gujarat State Social Welfare Board, asked for uniform implementation of the Government Resolution dated 13.03.1995, for all the employees, by which higher pay-scale is ordered to be given to the employees of the Gujarat State Social Welfare Board. The same was granted to some of the persons and is denied to some other persons. Under these circumstances, a petition being Special Civil Application No. 207 of 2011 was filed. It is this petition, which was contested by the respondent Board, principally contending that, the writ petition is not maintainable against this Board, since it is not 'State' within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution of India. Reliance was placed on the decision (of learned single Judge) of this Court in the case of P.K. Khalsa v. Gujarat State Social Welfare Advisory Board, reported in 1995(2) GLH 339. Reliance was also placed on the decision of the Division Bench of this Court recorded on Letters Patent Appeal No. 812 of 1995. Accepting the said preliminary objection, the said petition came to be dismissed as 'not maintainable'. While holding the petition to be not maintainable, the learned single Judge has otherwise not gone into the merits of the matter.

2.2 Being aggrieved, the petitioners filed Letters Patent Appeal No. 70 of 2012 and cognate appeals i.e. the present group of appeals. During the course of hearing of this group of Letters Patent Appeals, on 18.07.2014, the Division Bench of this Court (Coram : Hon'ble Mr. Justice Vijay Manohar Sahai and Hon'ble Mr. Justice R.P. Dholaria) found and observed as under.-

"1. We have heard Mrs. Sushma S. Shah, learned counsel for the appellant and Mr. Manoj N. Popat, learned counsel assisted by Mr. Digant Popat, learned counsel for the respondents.

2. In this Letters Patent Appeal, common judgment of learned single Judge dated 19th July, 2011 passed in Special Civil Application No. 207 of 2011 and Special Civil Application Nos. 4146 of 2011 to 4152 of 2011 has been challenged, wherein, the learned single Judge has dismissed the writ petitions holding that the Gujarat State Social Welfare Board is not a State within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution of India and therefore the writ petitions are not maintainable.

3. The learned counsel for the appellant has urged that the Gujarat State Social Welfare Board is a State within the meaning of Article12 of the Constitution of India as the State Government has got deep pervasive control of the Board and therefore if any employee has any grievance, he may file a writ petition before this Court.

4. This argument is opposed by Mr. Digant Popat, who has placed reliance on the decision of learned single Judge in P.K. Khalsa v. Gujarat State Social Welfare Advisory Board & another, 1995(2) GLH 339. The said decision was challenged by way of a Letters Patent Appeal. The said appeal was disposed of on 20.11.1998 as not pressed as the retiral benefits were paid by the Board to the appellant.

5. In the said Letters Patent Appeal, the question whether the Gujarat State Social Welfare Advisory Board was a State within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution