S.S.SANDHAWALIA, J.

1. Whether the National Insurance Company Limited is "a State" for the purposes of Art.12, or a statutory Corporation amenable to the writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, is the somewhat significant question which arises on the very threshold in this writ petition.

2. The issue being pristinely legal, the facts pale into relative insignificance. Suffice it to mention that the petitioner, who is the Branch Manager of the National Insurance Company Limited, claims to be aggrieved by his alleged supersession by officers junior to him and, therefore, invokes Art.16 of the Constitution in his aid. Further a grievance is made about a marginal reduction in his basic salary, which has been labeled as reduction in rank, for which the remedy is sought for in the writ jurisdiction under Art.226 of the Constitution of India.

3. Apart from the merits, a significant preliminary objection to the very maintainability of the writ petition has been raised and strenuously pressed before us. It is claimed that on the admitted facts the National Insurance Company Limited, respondent No. 2, against whom alone, in essence, the relief is claimed, is