Hon’ble Dr. Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud, C.J.—The reference before the Full Bench has arisen from a referring order dated 3 November 2015 of a learned Single Judge. The questions which have been referred for decision by the Full Bench are as follows:

1. Whether a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India would be maintainable against a Co-operative Cane Development Society, at the instance of its employee, for alleged breach of the provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Cane Co-operative Service Regulations, 1975 which govern his service conditions;

2. Whether the law laid down in Ram Karan v. State of U.P. and others, Writ-A No. 27306 of 2014, or Srinarayan Gupta v. State of U.P., Special Appeal (D) No. 779 of 2014, decided on 12th September, 2014, is the correct law, in view of the law laid down by the Full Bench in Vijay Bihari Srivastava v. U.P. Postal Primary Co-operative Bank Ltd., (2003) 1 UPLBEC 1; and

3. Whether the U.P. Cane Co-operative Service Regulations, 1975 are statutory in nature having been issued under Section 122 of the Uttar Pradesh Co-operative Societies Act, 1965 or are merely in the nature of administrative instructions.

2. In the proceedings before the learned Single Judge, the petitioners have sought a writ of mandamus directing the fifth respondent, who is the Secretary of the Co-operative Cane Development Society, Basti to allow them to join on duty, to work on their respective posts and to pay them wages for the period of the fresh crushing season which commenced from 1 October 2015 and which will continue until 15 July 2016.

3. The first to seventh petitioners claim to have been working as Seasonal Clerks while the eighth to fourteenth petitioners are stated to be working as Parchi Distributors. According to them, the Deputy Cane Commissioner published a provisional seniority list of Seasonal Clerks working in Co-operative Cane Development Societies at Gorakhpur, Basti, Maharajganj and Siddharath Nagar, by a communication dated 30 October 2004. The petitioners have sought a writ of mandamus on the basis of the provisions contained in the Uttar Pradesh Cane Co-operative Service Regulations, 1975 (Regulations). Under Chapter IV of the Regulations, provisions have been made for categorization and recruitment. Regulation 21 envisages that at the end of each crushing season, the Secretary of the Cane Union shall classify the entire seasonal staff into categories ‘A’ and ‘B’ on the basis of their work and worth during the season. Persons who possess unquestionable integrity and have discharged their duties efficiently during the crushing season are to be placed in category ‘A’ while the rest are to be placed in category ‘B’. Regulation 26 stipulates that the staff placed in category ‘A’ shall be automatically reemployed in the next season unless the strength of the seasonal staff has been reduced in any particular year to such an extent that it may not be possible to re-employ all such staff.

4. These Regulations have been framed under Section 122 of the Uttar Pradesh Co-operative Societies Act, 1965 (Act) which reads as follows:

“122. Authority to control employees of co-operate societies.—(1) The State Government may constitute an authority or authorities, in such manner as may be prescribed, for the recruitment, training and disciplinary control of the employees of co-operative societies, or a class of co-operative societies, and may require such authority or authorities to frame regulations regarding recruitment, emoluments, terms and conditions of service including disciplinary control of such employees and, subject to the provisions contained in Section 70, settlement of disputes between an employee of a co-operative society and the society.

(2) The regulations framed under sub-section (1) shall be subject to the approval of the State Government and shall, after such approval, be published in the Gazette, and take effect from the date of such publication and shall supersede