Kulshrestha, J. -- 1. Whether or not a Chief Municipal Officer holds a Civil post and is an employee of the State Government is the short question referred to us in the above petitions in view of the apparent conflict between the two Division Bench decisions of this Court, viz., Jagmohanlal Bajpai v. State of M.P. & others (1977 (1) SLR 746) holding that the Chief Municipal Officer does not hold a Civil post and is not an employee of the State Government and C.P. Kulshrestha (Dr.) v. Government of M.P. (1991 JLJ 198), holding to the contrary.

2. We need not deal in detail with the facts leading to reference of the case to the Full Bench for resolving the conflict between the two decisions. Suresh Chandra Sharma, the petitioner in W.P. No. 4829 of 1997 has challenged the order of the State Administrative Tribunal. Bench Gwalior, by which his application before the Tribunal was dismissed on the ground that although his services were under the control of the State Government, since he was not getting salary from the State Government but from the Municipal Fund, in view of the ratio of the case in Jagmohanlal Bajpai (supra), the Tribunal had no jurisdiction. In other cases also, on