The main legal point established in the judgment is the interpretation of 'other authorities' under Art.12 of the Constitution and the availability of alternate remedies under S.69 of the Act.

1. The petitioner joined the Shertallai Taluk Co-operative Land Mortgage Bank Ltd., No. A.327 (the Bank) as a clerk on 15-4-1974 pursuant to resolution No. 17 dated 14-4-1974 passed by the 1st respondent, the Board of Directors Of the Bank. According to resolution No. 69 dated 27-12-1974 the petitioner was appointed to the newly created post of Secretary by promotion. In January, 1979 the petitioner was charge sheeted alleging that she did not place before the Board of Directors a covering letter sent by the Central Land Mortgage Bank which had some bearing to the norms governing the grant of loans; and that as against the sanction of a loan for Rs. 10,000/-made by the Board, only a sum of Rs. 7,500/- was paid to a particular applicant; and that was done behind the back of the Board by the petitioner. Ultimately the enquiry officer appointed found the charges to have been proved against the petitioner; and the Board of Directors having accepted the finding at the enquiry, and having tentatively come to the conclusion that the petitioner was to be reverted to the post of Senior Supervisor, issued Ext. P1 show cause notice dated 4-2-1981 to which the petitioner sent Ext. P2 explanation dated 13-2-1981. The Board, however, rejected the plea put forward by the petitioner in Ext. P2 representation, and passed Ext. P3 order reverting the petitioner to the rank of Senior Supervisor. It is the correctness of Ext. P3 order that is being challenged in this writ petition.

2. In the writ petition several legal points are seen to have been raised to attack the validity of Ext. P3 order. The points pressed before me are (i) the Board of Directors was not competent to pass an order inflicting a punishment of reduction of the petitioner to a lower rank; (ii) the punishment of reversion was not warranted under the provisions of R.198(f) of the Kerala Co-operative Societies Rules (the Rules); and (iii) by the Board of Directors passing the impugned order, Ext. P3, the petitioner was deprived of her valuable right for preferring an appeal from the order of the disciplinary authority. On behalf of the 1st respondent it was contended inter alia that the writ petition was itself not maintainable inasmuch as the 1st respondent was not State within the meaning of Art.12 of the Constitution; and there was no relief sought against the 2nd respondent, the Deputy Registrar of Co-operative Societies. It was also submitted that the Board of Directors was competent to pass Ext. P3 order; and the order of reversion was perfectly valid, and no interference from this Court was called for in exercise of the limited jurisdiction under Art.226 of the Constitution. It was further submitted that if the petitioner was aggrieved by Ext. P3 order, the petitioner ought to have either resorted to arbitration proceedings under S.69 of the Act or approached the Industrial Tribunal or the Labour Court for appropriate relief, if any, to which she felt she was entitled.

3. The scope of the term 'other authorities' under Art.12 of the Constitution has been considerably enlarged by the decisions of the Supreme Court in Ajay Hasia v. Khalid Mujib (AIR. 1981 SC. 487) and Sow Prakash v. Union of India (AIR. 1981 SC. 212). Cataloguing the characteristics of the'other authorities' under Art.12 of the Constitution, though not exhaustively, the Supreme Court said:

1. "One thing is clear that if the entire share capital of the corporation is held by Government, it would go a long way towards indicating that the corporation is an instrumentality or agency of Government."

2. "Existence of deep and pervasive State control may afford an indication that the Corporation is a State agency or instrumentality."

3. "It may also be a relevant factor whether the Corporation enjoys monopoly status which is State conferred or State protected."

4. "If the functions of the corporation are of public importance and, closely related to governmental functions, it would be a relevant factor in clas