Point of Law: AWrit Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution is not maintainable against a scheduled bank on the ground that the business of banking does not fall within the expression “public duty”.

ORDER :

Tarlok Singh Chauhan, J.

The instant petition has been filed for the grant of following substantive reliefs:-

1. Allow the present writ petition and the auction of truck bearing No.HP 03 D 6262 may be set aside;

2. Direct the respondents to further make a fresh auction as per the guidelines and by giving the petitioner an opportunity to participate in the auction process;

3. Direct respondents to call the records pertaining to loan, auction, transfer of registration of truck bearing No. HP 03D 6262.”

2. It would be noticed that the auction of the truck has been conducted by respondent Nos. 4 and 5 i.e. Hinduja Leyland Finance Ltd. which is a private entity and not a creature of statute nor discharging statutory duties and, therefore, the writ petition is not maintainable.

3. Respondent Nos.4 and 5 against whom alone the reliefs have been claimed do not fall within the meaning of State under Article 12 of the Constitution and they are not financially, functionally and administratively dominated by or under the control of the Government. These respondents are not even discharging public duties or public functions.

4. The question regarding maintainability of the petition is otherwise no longer res integra and reference in this regard can be made to a fairly recent judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Ramakrishna Mission and another vs. Kago Kunya and others AIR 2019 SC 5570, wherein it was observed as under :-

“20. The Governing Body of the Mission is constituted by members of the Board of Trustees of Ramakrishna Math and is vested with the power and authority to manage the organization. The properties and funds of the Mission and its management vest in the Governing Body. Any person can become a member of the Mission if elected by the Governing Body. Members on roll form the quorum of the annual general meetings. The Managing Committee comprises of members appointed by the Governing Body for managing the affairs of the Mission. Under the Memorandum of Association and Rules and Regulations of the Mission, there is no governmental control in the functioning, administration and day to day management of the Mission. The conditions of service of the employees of the hospital are governed by service rules which are framed by the Mission without the intervention of any governmental body.

21. In coming to the conclusion that the appellants fell within the description of an authority under Article 226, the High Court placed a considerable degree of reliance on the judgment of a two judge Bench of this Court in Andi Mukta Sadguru Shree Muktajee Vandas Swami Suvarna Jayanti Mahotsav Smarak Trust v. V.R. Rudani AIR 1989 SC 1607. Andi Mukta (supra) was a case where a public trust was running a college which was affiliated to Gujarat University, a body governed by State legislation. The teachers of the University and all its affiliated colleges were governed, insofar as their pay scales were concerned, by the recommendations of the University Grants Commission. A dispute over pay scales raised by the association representing the teachers of the University had been the subject matter of an award of the Chancellor, which was accepted by the government as well as by the University. The management of the college, in question, decided to close it down without prior approval. A writ petition was instituted before the High Court for the enforcement of the right of the teachers to receive their salaries and terminal benefits in accordance with the governing provisions. In that context, this Court dealt with the issue as to whether the management of the college was amenable to the writ jurisdiction. A number of circumstances weighed in the ultimate decision of this Court, including the following:

(i) The trust was managing an affiliated college ;

(ii) The college was in receipt of government aid;

(iii) The aid of the government played a major role in the control, management and work of the educational institution;

(iv) Aided institutions, in a similar