Suneet Kumar, J.

1. The matter came to be referred to the Larger Bench by the learned Single Judge on being confronted with the judgment rendered by the Supreme Court in Ramesh Ahluwalia vs. State of Punjab and others, 2012 (12) SCC 331 (Ramesh Ahluwalia case), wherein, the Court held that a private educational body performing public duty or discharging public function would be amenable to the jurisdiction of the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, consequently, in the opinion of the referring Court, the Full Bench judgment of this Court in M.K. Gandhi and others v. Director of Education (Secondary) U.P. and others, 2006(62) ALR 27 (M.K. Gandhi case) and Division Bench decision rendered in Anjani Kumar Srivastava Vs State of U.P. and others, 2017 (7) ADJ 112 (DB) (Anjani Kumar Srivastava case) needs to be revisited. Relevant portion of the referring order reads thus:

“In my opinion, since the judgment of Ramesh Ahluwalia (supra) clearly stipulates that even a purely private body where the State has no control over its internal affairs would be amenable to the jurisdiction of the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution if it discharges a public function or public duty, the judgment of the Full Bench of this Court in M.K. Gandhi as well as the Division Bench judgment in Anjani Kumar Srivastava needs to be revisited.

It is, therefore, directed that the records of this case be placed before the Hon'ble Chief Justice for referring the matter to the Larger Bench in the light of the judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of Ramesh Ahluwalia.”

2. We have carefully gone through the pleadings of the writ petition with the assistance of learned counsel for the parties and the referring order. In our opinion the following questions require to be answered:

(i) whether private institutions imparting education perform public duty, a State function, making them amenable to judicial review under Article 226 of the Constitution of India;

(ii) whether the Full Bench decision rendered in M.K. Gandhi and Division Bench judgment in Anjani Kumar Srivastava requires to be revisited in view of the Supreme Court decision rendered in Ramesh Ahluwalia.

Facts:

(I) Saint Francis School, a Christian Minority Institution founded and run by Shamli Franciscan Education Society, a religious and charitable organization, registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, is affiliated to the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, New Delhi.

(II) Petitioner, an assistant teacher of junior section of the school, was placed under suspension, thereafter, his services came to be terminated on 07 March 2014 with immediate effect. The writ petition was filed assailing the order of termination being arbitrary and in violation of the service conditions of the institution.

(III) A preliminary objection was raised that the writ petition is not maintainable before the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution against private educational institution in view of the Full Bench decision rendered in M.K. Gandhi. The Full Bench, in that case, held that Delhi Public School was not the 'State' within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution, but the affiliating body i.e. the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is the 'State' within the meaning of the Article. The Full Bench also held that the bylaws framed by the CBSE Board for affiliation shall be deemed to have been adopted by a school in case service conditions have not been framed by the institution and the CBSE Board would be liable to take action under its bylaws to disaffiliate the school in the event of breach.

(IV) The judgment of the Full Bench of this Court was carried in appeal, [Civil Appeal No. 339 of 2007], the Supreme Court while disposing of the appeal vide judgment dated 14 August 2007 observed as follows:

“'That all the respondents were teachers in DPS School, Ghaziabad. Their services were terminated. Therefore, they approach the High Court