Public functions need not be the exclusive domain of the state. Charities, self-regulatory organizations and other nominally private institutions (such as universities, the Stock Exchange, Lloyd's of London, churches) may in reality also perform some types of public function. As Sir John Donaldson M.R. urged, it is important for the courts to 'recognize the realities of executive power' and not allow 'their vision to be clouded by the subtlety and sometimes complexity of the way in which it can be exerted'. Non- governmental bodies such as these are just as capable of abusing their powers as is Government.
52. These observations make it abundantly clear that in order for it to be held that the body is performing a public function, the appellant would have to prove that the body seeks to achieve some collective benefit for the public or a section of public and accepted by the public as having authority to do so.
171. In Shri Anadi Mukta Sadguru Shree Muktajee Vandasjiswami Suvarna Jayanti Mohtsav Smarak Trust v. V.R.Rudani, AIR 1989 SC 1607, on which strong reliance has been placed by Mr.Shelat in support of his submission regarding amenability, the Supreme Court dealt with the case of a science college at Ahmedabad, which was being which was being run by a Trust and has temporary affiliation to the Gujarat University under the Gujarat University Act, 1949, which, of course, later received permanent affiliation as amended by Gujarat Act VI of 1973. The University teachers and those employed in the affiliated colleges were paid in the pay scale recommended by the University Grants Commission. At one stage there was some dispute Page 65 of 96 C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT between the University area teachers Association and the University and the implementation of certain pay scales. That dispute by agreement of parties was referred to the Chancellor of the University for decision. The Chancellor gave his award holding that the revised pay scales should be applicable to all irrespective of the employment under the University and affiliated college. The State Government accepted the award of the Chancellor and issued directions to all affiliated colleges to pay their teachers in terms thereof. The trustees challenged the Government's directive and approached the University to terminate the services of the teachers who were entitled to the revised scale of pay on the ground that they were surplus. The Vice-Chancellor, however, refused the request of the trustees. The trustees then decided to close down the college and surrendered the affiliation of the college to the University. Teachers moved the High Court. The trustees resisted the prayer on the grounds, inter alia: (1) the Trust is not a statutory body and is not subject to the writ jurisdiction of the High Court; (2) the resolution of the University directing payment to teachers in the revised pay scales was not binding on the trust; (3) the University had no power to burden the trust with additional financial liability by retrospectively revising the pay scales; (4) the claim for gratuity by retrenched teachers was untenable; and (5) Ordinance 120E prescribing closure compensation was ultra vires of the powers of the Syndicate.
172. The High Court rejected the above submissions and accepted the writ petitions. The trustees moved the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has in the said judgment considered the question of maintainability of the writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution in these words (AIR 1989 SC 1607 at pp.1610-1613) :
"The essence of the attack on the maintainability of the writ petition under Art. 226 may now be examined. It is argued that the management of the college being a trust registered- under the Public Trusts Act is not amenable to the writ jurisdiction of the High Court. The contention in other words is that the trust is a private institution Page 66 of 96 C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT against which no writ of mandamus can be issued. In support of the contention, the counsel relied upon two decisions of this Court: (a) Executive Committee of Vaish Degree College, Shamli v. Lakshmi Narain, (1976) 2 SCR 1006 : AIR 1976 SC 888 and (b) Deepak Kumar Biswas v. Director of Public Instruction. In the first of the two cases, the respondent institution was a Degree College managed by a registered co-operative society. A suit was filed against the college by the dismissed principal for reinstatement. It was contended that the Executive Committee of the college which was registered under the Co-operative Societies Act and Affiliated to the Agra University (and subsequently to Meerut University) was a statutory body. The importance of this contention lies in the fact that in such a case, reinstatement could be ordered if the dismissal is in violation of statutory obligation. But this Court refused to accept the contention. It was observed that the management of the college was not a statutory body since not created by or under a statute. It was emphasised that an institution which adopts certain statutory provisions will not become a statutory body and the dismissed employee cannot enforce a contract of personal service against a non- statutory body.
The decision in Vaish Degree College was followed in Deepak Kumar Biswas case. There again a dismissed Lecturer of a private college was seeking reinstatement in service. The Court refuse to grant the relief although it was found that the dismissal was wrongful. This Court instead granted substantial monetary benefits to the lecturer. This appears to be the preponderant judicial opinion because of the common law principle that a service Contract cannot be specifically enforced.
But here the facts are quite different and, therefore, we need not go thus far. There is no plea for specific performance of contractual service. The respondents are not seeking a declaration that they be continued in service. They are not asking for mandamus to put them back into the college. They are claiming only the terminal benefits and arrears of salary payable to them. The question is whether the trust can be compelled to pay by a writ of Mandamus?
Page 67 of 96C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT If the rights are purely of a private character no mandamus can issue. If the management of the college is purely a private body with no public duty mandamus will not lie. These are two exceptions to Mandamus. But once these are absent and when the party has no other equally convenient remedy, mandamus cannot be denied. It has to be appreciated that the appellant-trust was managing the affiliated college to which public money is paid as Government aid. Public money paid as Government aid plays a major role in the control, maintenance and working of educational institutions. The aided institutions like Government institutions discharge public function by way of imparting education to students. They are subject to the rules and regulations of the affiliating University. Their activities are closely supervised by the University authorities. Employment in such institutions, therefore, is not devoid of any public character (See The "Evolving Indian Administrative Law by M.P. Jain (1983) p 266). So are the service conditions of the academic staff. When the University takes a decision regarding their pay scales, it will be binding on the management. The service conditions of the academic staff are, therefore, not purely of a private character. It has super-added protection by University decisions creating a legal right-duty relationship between the staff and the management. When there is existence of this relationship, mandamus cannot be refused to the aggrieved party.
The law relating to mandamus has made the most spectacular advance. It may be recalled that the remedy by prerogative writs in England started with very limited scope and suffered from many procedural disadvantages. To overcome the difficulties, Lord Gardiner (the Lord Chancellor) in pursuance of Section 3(l)(e) of the Law Commission Act, 1965, requested the law Commission to review the existing remedies for the judicial control of administrative acts and commissions with a view to evolving a simpler and more effective procedure. The Law Commission made their report in March, 1976 (Law Com No. 73) it was implemented by Rules of Court (Order
53) in 1977 and given statutory force in 198! by Section 31 of the Supreme Court Act, 1981. It combined all the Page 68 of 96 C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT former remedies into one proceeding called judicial review. Lord Denning explains the scope of this "Judicial review":
"At one stroke the courts could grant whatever relief was appropriate. Not only certiorari and mandamus, but also declaration and injunction. Even damages. The procedure was much more simple and expeditious. Just a summons instead of a writ. No formal pleadings. The evidence was given by affidavit. As a rule no cross-examination, no discovery, and so forth. But there were important safeguards. In particular, in order to qualify, the applicant had to get the leave of a judge.
The statute is phrased in flexible terms. It gives scope for development. It uses the words "having regard to". Those words are very indefinite. The result is that the courts are not bound hand and foot by the previous law. They are to 'have regard to' it. So the previous law as to who are - and who are not
- public authorities, is not absolutely binding. Nor is the previous law as to this matters in respect of which relief may be granted. This means that the judges can develop the public law as they think best. That they have done and are doing." (see - The Closing Chapter by Rt. Hon. Lord Denning p.
122) There, however, the prerogative writ of mandamus confined only to public authorities to compel performance of public duty. The 'public authority' for them means everybody which is created by statute - and whose powers and duties are defined by statute. So Government departments, local authorities, police authorities, and statutory undertakings and corporations, are all 'public authorities'. But there is no such limitation for our High Courts to issue the writ 'in the nature of mandamus'. Article 226 confers wide powers on the High Courts to issue writs in the nature of prerogative writs. This is a striking departure from the English law. Under Article 226, writs can be Page 69 of 96 C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT issued to 'any person or authority'. It can be issued 'for the enforcement of any of the fundamental rights and for any other purpose."
Article 226 reads:
"226. Power of High Courts to issue certain writs.-- (1) Notwithstanding anything in Art. 32, every High Court shall have power throughout the territories in relation to which it exercises jurisdiction, to issue to any person or authority including in appropriate cases, any Government, within those territories directions, orders or writs, including (writs in the nature of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari) or any of them for the enforcement of any of the rights conferred by Part III and for any other purpose.
xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx The scope of this article has been explained by Subba Rao, J., in Dwarkanath v. Income-tax Officer, AIR 1966 SC 81 at pp.84-85, This article is couched in comprehensive phraseology and it ex facie confers a wide power on the High Courts to reach injustice wherever it is found. The Constitution designedly used a wide language in describing the nature of the power, the purpose for which and the person or authority against whom it can be exercised. It can issue writs in the nature of prerogative writs as understood in England; but the use of the expression "nature", for the said expression does not equate the writs that can be issued in India with those in England, but only draws an analogy from them. That apart, High Courts can also issue directions, orders or writs other than the prerogative writs. It enables the High Courts to mould the reliefs to meet the peculiar and complicated requirements of this country. Any attempt to equate the scope of the power of the High Court under Art. 226 of the Constitution with that of the English Courts to issue prerogative writs is to introduce the unnecessary procedural restrictions grown over the years in a comparatively small country like England with a unitary Page 70 of 96 C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT form of Government into a vast country like India functioning under a federal structure. Such a construction defeats the purpose of the article itself."
The term "authority" used in Art. 226, in the context, must receive a liberal meaning unlike the term in Art. 12. Article 12 is relevant only for the purpose of enforcement of fundamental rights under Art. 32. Article 226 confers power on the High Courts to issue writs for enforcement of the fundamental rights as well as non-fundamental rights. The words "Any person or authority" used in Art. 226 are, therefore, not to be confined only to statutory authorities and instrumentalities of the State. They may cover any other person or body performing public duty. The form of the body concerned is not very much relevant. What is relevant is the nature of the duty imposed on the body. The duty must be judged in the light of positive obligation owed by the person or authority to the affected_ party. No matter by what means the duty is imposed. If a positive obligation exists mandamus cannot be denied.
In Praga Tools Corporation v. C.V. Imanual, , this Court said that a mandamus can issue against a person or body to carry but the duties placed on them by the Statutes even though they are not public officials or statutory body. It was observed (at p. 778 of 1969-3 SCR): (at pp 1309-10 of AIR):
"It is, however, not necessary that the person or the authority on whom the statutory duty is imposed need be a public officials or an official body. A mandamus can issue, for instance, to an official of a society to compel him to carry out the terms of the statute under or by which the society is constituted or governed and also, to companies or corporations to carry out duties placed on them by the statutes authorising their undertakings. A mandamus would also lie against a company constituted by a statute for the purpose of fulfilling public responsibilities. (See Halsbury's Law of England (3rd Ed. Vol. II p. 52 and onwards)."Page 71 of 96
C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT Here again we may point out that mandamus cannot be denied on the ground that the duty to be enforced is not imposed by the statute. Commenting on the development of this law, Professor De Smith states: "To be enforceable by mandamus a public duty does not necessarily have to be one imposed by statute. It may be sufficient for the duty to have been imposed by charter, common law, custom or even contract." (Judicial Review of Administrative Act 4th Ed. p 540). We share this view.
The judicial control over the fast expanding maze of bodies affecting the rights of the people should not be put into watertight compartment. It should remain flexible to meet the requirements of variable circumstances. Mandamus is a very wide remedy which must be easily available lo reach injustice whenever it is found". Technicalities should not come in the way of granting that relief under Art. 226. We, therefore, reject the contention urged for the appellants on the maintainability of the writ petition.
173. The ratio discernible from Shri Anadi Mukta Sadguru (supra) is that, the form of the body concerned is not very much relevant. What is relevant is the nature of duty imposed on the body. A writ of mandamus can be issued against a person or a body to carry out the duties placed on them by the statute, even though they are not public officials or statutory bodies.
174. In Praga Tools Corporation v. C.V. Immaneul, AIR 1969 SC 1306, the Supreme Court observed:
"Article 226 provides that every High Court shall have power to issue to any person or authority orders and writ, including writs in the nature of habeas corpus, mandamus, etc., or any of them for the enforcement of any of the rights conferred by Part-Ill of the Constitution and for any other purpose. But, it is well understood that a mandamus lies to secure the performance of a public or statutory duty in the performance of which the one who applies for it has a sufficient legal interest.
Page 72 of 96C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT Therefore, the condition precedent for the issue of mandamus is that there is. one claiming it a legal right to the performance of a legal duty by one against whom it is sought. An order of mandamus, is, in form, a command directed to a person, corporation or inferior Tribunal requiring him or them to do a particular thing therein specified which appertains to his or their office and is in the nature of a public duty. It is, however, not necessary that the person on the authority on whom the statutory duty is imposed need be a public official or an official body.
It is therefore, clear that a writ of mandamus is an extraordinary remedy. It is in form a command directed to a person, corporation or an inferior Tribunal requiring him or them to do a particular thing therein specified which appertains to his or their office and is in the nature of a public duty. So long as the duty that is sought to be performed is in the nature of a public duty, it is not necessary that the person or the authority on which the duty is imposed should be a public official or an official body. It is further necessary that the person claiming a 'writ of mandamus must have a legal right to the performance of a legal duty by the one against whom the writ is sought.
175. What is discernible from an exhaustive review of the case-law, considered and discussed above, may be summed up thus:
1. For issuing writ against a legal entity, it would have to be an instrumentality or agency of a State or should have been entrusted with such functions as are Governmental or closely associated therewith by being of public importance or being fundamental to the life of the people and hence Governmental.
2. A writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India may be maintainable against (i) the State Government; (ii) Authority; (iii) a statutory body; (iv) an instrumentality or agency of the State; (v) a company which is financed and owned by the State; (vi) a private body run substantially on State funding; (vii) a private Page 73 of 96 C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT body discharging public duty or positive obligation of public nature; and (viii) a person or a body under liability to discharge any function under any Statute, to compel it to perform such a statutory function.
3. Although a private banking company like the Standard Chartered Bank with which we are concerned is duty bound to follow and abide by the guidelines provided by the Reserve Bank of India for smooth conduct of its affairs in carrying on its business, yet those are of regulatory measures to keep a check and provide guideline and not a participatory dominance or control over the affairs of the company.
4. A private company carrying on banking business as a Scheduled bank cannot be termed as a company carrying on any public function or public duty.
5. Normally, mandamus is issued to a public body or authority to compel it to perform some public duty cast upon it by some statute or statutory rule. In exceptional cases a writ of mandamus or a writ in the nature of mandamus may issue to a private body, but only where a public duty is cast upon such private body by a statute or statutory rule and only to compel such body to perform its public duty.
6. Merely because a statue or a rule having the force of a statute requires a company or some other body to do a particular thing, it does not possess the attribute of a statutory body.
7. If a private body is discharging a public function and the denial of any rights is in connection with the public duty imposed on such body, the public law remedy can be enforced. The duty cast on the public body may be either statutory or otherwise and the source of such power is immaterial but, nevertheless, there must be the public law element in such action.
8. According to Halsbury's Laws of England, 3rd Ed. Vol.30, p.682, a public authority is a body not necessarily a county council, municipal corporation or other local authority which has public statutory duties to perform and which perform the duties and carries out its transactions for the benefit of the public and not for private profit. There cannot be any general definition of public authority or public action. The facts of each case decide the point.
Page 74 of 96C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT
176. We are again posing a question for our consideration. The answer to the same should put an end to the matter.
177. The Master Circular relating to the willful defaulters has been issued by the Reserve Bank of India in exercise of its powers under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, and the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, very much binding to the Standard Chartered Bank, therefore, while acting under the Master Circular for the purpose of declaring a particular borrower as a willful defaulter, does the bank discharge a public duty.
178. To put it in other words, if a private bank has failed to perform its duty in the sense that it has gone beyond the scope of the regulations of the Master Circular, or in performance of the same, has violated any of the fundamental rights or any other legal rights of the borrower against whom the action is proposed, then whether such a borrower can legitimately maintain a writ-application before this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.
179. A body, public or private, should not be categorized as amenable or not amenable to writ jurisdiction. The most important and vital consideration should be the function test as regards the maintainability of a writ application. If a public duty or public function is involved, any body, public or private, concerned or connection with that duty or function, and limited to that, would be subject to judicial scrutiny under the extraordinary writ jurisdiction of Article 226 of the Constitution of India.
180. In the case of LIC of India v. Escorts Ltd., AIR 1986 SC 1370, it was contended before the Supreme Court that the Life Insurance Corporation was an instrumentality of the State, and was debarred by Article 14 from acting arbitrarily. It was also contended that it was obligatory upon the Corporation to disclose the Page 75 of 96 C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT reasons for its action complained of, namely, its requisition to call an extra-ordinary general meeting of the company for the purpose of moving a Resolution to remove some Directors and appoint others in their place. Such argument was opposed by the State, contending that the actions of the State or an instrumentality of the State, which do not properly belong to the field of public law but belong to the field of private law, were not subject to judicial review. Dealing with the said contentions, the Supreme Court observed :-
"While we do find considerable force in the contention of the learned Attorney-General it may not be necessary for us to enter into any lengthy discussion of the topic, as we shall presently see. We also desire to warn ourselves against readily referring to English cases on questions of Constitutional law' Administrative Law and Public Law as the law in India in these branches has forced ahead of the law in England, guided as we are by our Constitution and uninhibited as we are by the technical rules which have hampered the development of the English law. While we do not for a moment doubt that every action of the State or an instrumentality of the State must be informed by reason and that, in appropriate cases actions uninformed by reason may be questioned as arbitrary in proceedings under Art.226 or Art.32 of the Constitution, we do not construe Art.14 as a charter for judicial review of State actions and to call upon the State to account for its actions in its manifold activities by stating reason; for such actions.
For example, if the action of the State is political or sovereign in character, the Court will keep away from it 'the Court will not debate academic matters or concern itself with the intricacies of trade and commerce. If the action of the State is related to contractual obligation or obligations arising out of the contract, the Court may not ordinarily examine it unless the action has some public law character attached to it. Broadly speaking, the Court will examine actions of State if they pertain to the public law domain and refrain from examining them if they pertain to the private law field. The difficulty will lie in demarcating the frontier between the public law domain and the private law field. It is impossible to draw the line with precision and we do not want to attempt it. The Page 76 of 96 C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT question must be decided in each case with reference to the particular action, the activity in which the State or the instrumentality of the State is engaged when performing the action, the public law or private law character of then action and a host of other relevant circumstances. When the State or an instrumentality of the State ventures into the corporate world and purchases the shares of a company, it assumes to itself the ordinary role of a share holder, and dons the robes of a share-holder, with all the rights available to such a share-holder there is no reason why the State as a share- holder should be expected to state its reasons when it seeks to change the management, by a resolution of the Company, like any other share-holder.."
Distinction between `public law' and `private law' :
Difficult as this distinction is and incapable of precise demarcation, it is yet necessary to keep the broad distinction in mind. Lord Denning in his book "The Closing Chapter" has this to say on the subject:
"The first thing to notice is that public law is confined to `public authorities'. What are 'public authorities'? There is only one avenue of Approach. It is by asking, in the words of Section 31(2)(b) of the Supreme Court Act 1981 :
What is the 'nature of the persons and bodies against whom relief may be granted by such orders', that is, by mandamus, prohibition or certiorari?
These are divided into two main categories :
First, the persons or bodies who have legal authority to determine questions affecting the common law or statutory rights or obligations of other persons as individuals. That is the formula stated by Lord Justice Atkin in R. v. Electricity Commissioners, ex parte London Electricity Joint Committee Co., (1920) Ltd, (1924)1 KB 171 / 205 as broadened by Lord Diplock in O'Reilly v. Mackman (1982) 3, WLR 1096/ 1104).
Second, the persons or bodies who are entrusted by Parliament with functions, powers and duties which involve the making of decisions of a public nature....To which I would add the words of Lord Goddard, C.J. in R. v.
Page 77 of 96C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT National Joint Council for Dental Technicians, ex parte Neate (1953) 1 QB 704/707):
"The bodies to which in modern times the remedies of these prerogative writs have been applied have all been statutory bodies on whom Parliament has conferred statutory powers and duties which, when exercised, may lead to the detriment of subjects who may have to submit to their jurisdiction".
But those categories are not exhaustive. The courts can extend them to any other person or body of a public nature exercising public duties which it is desirable to control by the remedy of judicial review.
There are many cases which give guidance, but I will just give some illustrations.
Every body which is created by statute and whose powers and duties are defined by statute is a 'public authority'. So Government departments, local authorities, police authorities, and statutory undertakings and corporations, are all `public authorities'. So are members of a statutory tribunal or inquiry, and the board of visitors of a prison. The Criminal Injuries Compensation Board is a public authority. So also, I suggest, is a university incorporated by Royal charter; and the managers of a State School. So is the Boundary Commission: and the Committee of Lloyd's.
But a limited liability company incorporated under the Companies Acts is not a 'public authority'; (see Tozer v. National Greyhound Racing Club Ltd. (1983) Times, 16 May). Nor is an unincorporated association like the Jockey Club... ". (see pp. 122, 123, 124)
38. Sir Harry Woolf, a Lord Justice of Court of Appeal, points out the distinction in the following words :-
"I regard public law as being the system which enforces the proper performance by public bodies of the duties which they owe to the public. I regard private law as being the system which protects the private rights of private individuals or the private rights of public bodies. The critical distinction arises out of the fact that it is the Page 78 of 96 C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT public as a whole, or in the case of local government the public in the locality, who are the beneficiaries of what is protected by public law and it is the individuals or bodies entitled to the rights who are the beneficiaries of the protection provided by private law ". (see page 221 of his Article "Public Law Private Law : Why the Divide? A personal View (published in "Public Law" Summer (1986)").
The learned Law Lord stated further in the same Article, at page 223 :
"While public law deals only with public bodies, this does not mean that the activities of public bodies are never governed by private law. Like public figures, at least in theory, public bodies are entitled to have a private life. There have been suggestions that in the commercial field public bodies should adopt different and higher ethical standards than private individuals, but this is not yet required as a matter of law and in relation to purely commercial transactions the same law is applicable, whether or not a public duty is involved. Prima facie, the same is true in relation to employment. The servant employed by a public body ordinarily has the same private rights as any other servant ".
The position may, however, be different pointed out the learned Law Lord if such relationship is circumscribed by a statutory provision.
39. In this context, it would be appropriate to refer to two important English decisions, where a public duty was implied even in the absence of a statutory provisions. They are R. v. Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, ex parte Lain (1967) 2 All ER 770, and R. v. Panel on take- overs (1987) 1 All ER 564. In Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, the relevant facts are the following: In the year 1964 the Government of Great Britian announced a Scheme in both Houses of Parliament providing for compensation to victims of violence and persons injured while assisting the police. It was a non- statutory scheme under which compensation was to be paid ex gratia. The scheme was to be administered by a Board, who were to be provided with money through a grant-in-aid, out of which payment would be made when the Board was satisfied that the compensation was Page 79 of 96 C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT justified. The widow of a Police Constable who was shot in the face by a suspect whom he was about to question, and who subsequently shot himself, applied to the Board for compensation. The Board awarded compensation, but made certain deductions, which was questioned by way of certiorari. The first question before the Court was "whether the Board are a body of persons amenable to the supervisory jurisdiction of this Court?". For the Board reliance was placed upon the well-known words of Atkin, L.J., in' R.v. Electricity Commissioners (1924) 1 KB 171, at p. 205 to the effect that the body of persons to be amenable to writ jurisdiction must have the legal authority to determine questions affecting the rights of subjects and who are under a duty to act judicially. The Court held that the said words of Atkin. L. J., were not supposed to be exhaustive of the situation where a certiorari may issue, and pointed out that the Board, though not set up under a statute, is set up by the executive Government, i.e., under the prerogative, and that its acts are no less lawful on that account. The Court observed :
"Indeed, the writ of certiorari has been issued not only to courts set up by statutes but also to courts whose authority was derived, inter alia, from the prerogative. Once the jurisdiction is extended, as it clearly has been, to tribunals as opposed to courts, there is no reason why the remedy by way of certiorari cannot be invoked to a body of persons set up under the prerogative. Moreover, the Board, though set up under the prerogative and not by statute, had in fact the recognition of Parliament in debate and Parliament provided the money to satisfy the Board's awards....".
It was further observed:
"We have, as it seems to me, reached the position when the ambit of certiorari can be said to cover every case in which a body of persons, of a public as opposed to a purely private or domestic character, has to determine matters affecting subjects provided always that it has a duty to act judicially. Looked at in this way, the Board in my judgment comes fairly and squarely within the jurisdiction of this Court. The Board are, as counsel for the Board said, "a servant of the Crown, charged by the Crown, by executive instructions, with the duty of distributing the bounty of the Crown". The Board are Page 80 of 96 C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT clearly, therefore, performing public duties. Moreover, the Board are quite clearly under a duty to act judicially".
The same idea was put forward by Diplock, L.J., in his separate opinion, where he said :
"If new tribunals are established by acts of Government, the supervisory jurisdiction of the High Court extends to them if they possess the essential characteristics on which the subjection of inferior tribunals to the supervisory control of the High Court is based...". Ashworth, J., justified the issue of certiorari in that case on the following basis:
"They (Board) were set up by the executive after the proposal to set them up had been debated in both Houses of Parliament, and the money needed to satisfy their awards is drawn from sums provided by Parliament. It can therefore be said that their existence and their functions have at least been recognized by Parliament, which to my mind has a twofold consequence : in the first place it negatives any notion that the Board are a private tribunal, and secondly it confers on the Board what I may call a public or official character. The number of applications for compensation and the amounts awarded by the Board alike show how greatly the general public are affected by the functioning of the Board ....".
40. This decision has since been followed and applied in several English decisions. It would suffice to refer to R. v. Panel on Takeovers and Mergers, Ex Parte Datafin (1987) 1 All ER 564. The Panel on Take-overs and Mergers was a self-regulating unincorporated association which devised and operated the City Code on Take-overs and Mergers prescribing a Code of Conduct to be observed in the take- overs of listed public companies. The panel had no direct statutory, prerogative or common law powers, nor were its powers based solely on consensus; its acts were supported and sustained by certain statutory powers and penalties introduced after the inception of the Panel. A decision of the panel was sought to be questioned by way of certiorari. One of the objections of the respondents was that the supervisory jurisdiction of the Court was confined to bodies whose power was derived solely from legislation or the exercise of the prerogative, and that the power of judicial review did not extend to a Page 81 of 96 C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT body such as the Panel on Takeovers. Overruling this objection, it was held that in determining whether the decisions of a particular body were subject to judicial review, the Court was not confined to considering the source of that body's powers and duties, but could also look to their nature. Accordingly, if the duty imposed on a body, whether expressly or by implication, was a public duty and the body was exercising public law functions, the Court had jurisdiction to entertain an application for judicial review of that body's decisions. It was held that, having regard to the wide-ranging nature and importance of the matters covered by the City Code on Take-overs and Mergers and to the public consequences of noncompliance with the Code, the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers was performing a public duty when prescribing and administering the Code and its rules and was subject to public law remedies. Accordingly, it was held that an application for judicial review would lie in an appropriate case. The approach to be adopted in such cases, it was stated by Sir John Donaldson, M.R., is"to recognize the realities of executive power".This is what the learned Master of Rolls stated :-
"In fact, given its novelty, the panel fits surprisingly well into the format which this court had in mind in R. v. Criminal Injuries Compensation Board (1967-2 QB 867). It is without doubt performing a public duty and an important one. This is clear from the expressed willingness of the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to limit legislation in the field of take-overs and mergers and to use the panel as the centerpiece of his regulation of that market. The rights of citizens are indirectly affected by its decisions, some, but by no means all of whom, may in a technical sense be said to have assented to this situation, e.g., the members of the Stock Exchange. At least in its determination of whether there has been a breach of the Code, it has a duty to act judicially and it asserts that its raison d'etre is to do equity between one shareholder and another. Its source of power is only partly based on moral persuarion and the assent of institutions and their members, the bottom line being the statutory powers exercised by the Department of Trade and Industries and the Bank of England. In this context I should be very disappointed if the courts could not recognize the realities of executive power and allowed their vision to be clouded by the subtlety and Page 82 of 96 C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT sometimes complexity of the way in which it can be exerted...".
This rule was reiterated in yet another decision of the Court of Appeal in R. v. Panel on Take-overs and Mergers, ex parte Guinness, (1989) 1 All ER 509. This was indeed the approach indicated by Mathew, J. in Sukhdev v. Bhagatram, AIR 1975 SC 1331, when the learned Judge spoke of "the governing power, wherever located" being subjected to "fundamental constitutional limitations". The learned Judge felt that "the need to subject the power centres to the control of the Constitution requires an expansion of the concept of State action". (see para 93 at p. 1352).
181. Applying the above test, the Bank herein cannot be called a public body. It has no duty towards the public. It's duty is towards its account holders, which may include the borrowers having availed of the loan facility. It has no power to take any action, or pass any order affecting the rights of the members of the public. The binding nature of its orders and actions is confined to its account holders and borrowers and to its employees. Its functions are also not akin to Governmental functions.
182. We may also quote with profit a Full Bench decision of the Bombay High Court in the case of Shamrao Vithal Co-operative Bank Ltd. v. Padubidri Pattabhiram Bhat, AIR 1993 Bombay 91. The issue before the Full Bench of the Bombay High Court was whether the appellant-Bank was "State" within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution of India, and whether the writ-petition was maintainable against the appellants. In view of conflict of two decisions of the High Court, the matter was referred to a Larger Bench for determination. It was submitted that a Co-operative Bank, performed an important public function and that itself was sufficient for coming to the conclusion that it was a "State" under Article 12. It was also submitted that in a welfare State, the definition of "Governmental functions" had to be widened to include within its scope of functions, which were of public importance. Hence, any organization which performs a public function must be considered as a "State" under Article 12. The Full Bench took the view that it was too broad a proposition and sounded a note of caution considering the decision of the Supreme Court in the Page 83 of 96 C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT case of Ajay Hasai (supra). The Court took the view that every organization which carried out a function, which was of public importance, did not necessarily become "State" under Article 12. Conferment of "Statehood" depended upon various other factors also, such as the nexus of such organizations with the State, the extent of State control etc. The following observations of the Full Bench are worth taking note of :-
There may be many functions of public importance which can be performed by private organisation also. We have a large number of organisations doing important social work vital to the community. There are, for example, organisations which look after, educate and train handicapped persons or the blind, provide them with jobs and rehabilitate them. There are private charitable organisations which may provide free or subsidies housing to the poor or free medical aid. They may supply text-books to poor students, freeships and scholarships. There may be private organisation engaged in transport of goods and men. They perform functions which are, undoubtedly of public importance; and they subserve a public need. But this does not necessarily make such organisations "State" under Art. 12.Banking is undoubtedly a function of public importance. In fact, the nationalised banks do carry out these functions under the control of the State. But that does not mean that banks which are not so controlled, or banks which are set up by private organisations or co-operative societies become" State" under Article 12. In a welfare State, many activities which are often carried on by private organisations are undertaken by the State. In such cases the Supreme Court has said that we must look at the overall position of the organisation in the light of the other tests also, especially when the function of the organisation is not such as can be carried on only by the State or is not connected with governmental functions."
183. What is complained before us is the procedural arbitrariness on the part of the bank. We have examined the constitutional validity of the Master Circular issued by the Reserve Bank of India at the instance of the petitioners of Special Civil Application No.10120 of 2014, but it is difficult for us to also look into the proposed Page 84 of 96 C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT action on the part of the Standard Chartered Bank on the premise that the show-cause notice which has been issued is lacking in material particulars.
184. Such being the position, we hold that the Standard Chartered Bank being a private bank is not amenable to the writ jurisdiction of this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.
185. If the petitioners are aggrieved in any manner with the mode and method of inquiry pursuant to the show- cause notice issued upon them, then it would be open for them to challenge the same in accordance with law before the appropriate authority."
36. With all odds against the writ applicant, I am still persuaded to take the view that I should not throw away this writ application on the ground that the same is not maintainable in law. It is evident from the materials on record that it all started with the statutory inspection of the Bank by the officials of the RBI under section 35 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. According to the RBI, the writ applicant managed to avail loan facility from the Mehsana Urban Cooperative Bank Ltd. (for short "the MUCBL) in the companies in which he himself and his relatives are interested. The allegations of the RBI are that this was done clandestinely with a view to overcome the provisions of the statutory directions issued by the RBI prohibiting loans and advances in favour of the directors and their relatives. It is also the case of the RBI that the statutory inspection of the MUCBL revealed several irregularities and violation of the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act as well as the directions issued by the RBI time to time. It is also alleged by the RBI that the MUCBL had sanctioned loans and advances to eight firms/concerns/companies, in which, the directors on the board of the Bank were interested and that includes the writ Page 85 of 96 C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT applicant herein. In such circumstances, referred to above, the first thing that the RBI did was to address a letter to the MUCBL to ensure that the writ applicant and similarly situated directors step down from the Board of Directors. It was a positive mandate of the RBI to the MUCBL in this regard. I also take notice of the letter dated dated 2nd May, 2018 addressed by the Government of India to the MUCBL calling upon the MUCBL to explain as to why such Directors had not yet stepped down despite the instructions from the RBI.
37. Taking all this into consideration, the MUCBL, ultimately, passed a resolution No.159 which is at page-133 of the paper- book, Annexure-I, unanimously resolving to issue letter to the concerned Directors that they would cease to be the Director of the Bank with effect from 24th August, 2018. At the cost of repetition, I may quote a portion of the said resolution, which reads thus;
"Since it was instruction of RBI the bank was compelled to issue the letter as such till the closure of above accounts, the both director Shri Chandubhai I. Patel and Shri Ambalal J. Patel will not be allowed to work as a director of Bank and compelled to step down from the board of the Bank."
38. Thus, the facts of this case are quite peculiar. The mandate or the instructions issued by the RBI and the Government of India may be a part of the regulatory measures, but the fact remains that the MUCBL acted upon such instructions and the action taken by the MUCBL has been further endorsed by the RBI as well as the Government of India.
Page 86 of 96C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT
39. I am of the view that this is not a matter in which the writ application has been brought against an independent action of the Multi-State Cooperative Bank. It is obvious that the action at the instance of the MUCBL is on the basis of the directives issued by the RBI. It could be argued that the RBI merely gave a reminder to the MUCBL to act in accordance with its policy and the guidelines and that by itself cannot be termed as an action taken by the RBI. However, the peculiar facts of this case has persuaded me to take the view that this writ application can be said to be maintainable.
40. In Ionic Metalliks (supra), the Division Bench of this Court, to which I was a party, has discussed in details as regards the maintainability of a writ application under Article 226 of the Constitution of India against a private Bank. In Ionic Metalliks (supra), the Bank involved was the Standard Chartered Bank. The Standard Chartered Bank issued a show-cause notice to the borrower calling upon him to show-cause as to why he should not be declared as a willful defaulter. Having regard to the subject matter, this Court, after exhaustive discussion, took the view that a writ petition is not maintainable against a private Bank. This Court also took the view that the show- cause notice issued to a defaulter was a part of the regulatory measures which the Bank was otherwise obliged to undertake in accordance with the guidelines issued by the RBI. The facts of the present case are slightly different and stands on altogether a different footing compared to the facts of Ionic Metalliks (supra).
41. As regards the powers of the High Court, to issue prerogative writs under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, Page 87 of 96 C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT the issue has been dealt with by the Supreme Court and the High Courts on several occasions. Before even referring to such rulings, it would be relevant to note the very expressions in Article 226 of the Constitution of India to "any person or authority" and "for the enforcement of the rights conferred by Part III and "for any other purpose". The said expressions would be sufficient to hold that there is no fetter or limitation on the power of the Court to issue a writ as against any class of persons as well as statutory authorities. The power is wide enough to reach any one dealing with any situation for the purpose of enforcing not only the fundamental rights, but also for any other purpose and to enforce legal rights of the citizens and statutory obligations and duties on the part of the Governmental, Statutory authorities, private companies and individuals. The series of restrictions which are enumerated by the various Courts are only self imposed restraints aimed at using the extraordinary power only to deserving situations. There is no difficulty while exercising the power as against the Government, Statutory authorities, Corporations and the Establishments coming within the definition of "State" under Article 12 of the Constitution of India. But when it comes to issuing a writ against private companies, establishments and individuals, the ground for exercising the power are restricted and narrowed down having regard to the extraordinary nature of the power and the availability of alternative remedies. Some of the grounds which would weigh against the exercise of the power are (i) availability of effective alternative remedy (2) absence of any public duty; (3) laches and unreasonable delay in approaching the Court; (4) Need to deal with and adjudicate upon complicated facts which would require detailed evidence oral or documentary etc. These are the factors which would Page 88 of 96 C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT dissuade the Courts from exercising the jurisdiction. But even if these dissuading factors exist, yet the Court can issue a writ, if the situation and interest of justice warrant interference and the monstrosity of the situation is such that refusal to exercise such power would result in grave injustice.
42. The observations made above are only culled out from the various judgments of the Supreme Court. Therefore, it would be a misnomer to say that a writ petition is not maintainable except where it is barred under the Constitution itself specifically. In other cases, it is a matter of exercise of discretion by the Court to issue or not to issue a writ.
43. Though the earlier decisions of the Supreme Court prior to and immediately after the Constitution prescribed stringent grounds for issuing writs, the Supreme Court subsequently held that having regard to the far-reaching expressions used in Article 226 of the Constitution of India, there was no justification to look back nor to feel oppressed by the earlier history of the writs in English law vide the judgment of the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in T.C.BASAPPA v. T.NAGAPPA . AIR 1954 SC 440.
44. In ROHTAS INDUSTRIES v. ITS UNION 1976 AIR 425 the Supreme Court observed as follows:-
"The expansive and extraordinary power of the High Courts under Article 226 is as wide as the amplitude of the language used indicates and so can affect any person
- even a private individual - and be available for any (other) purpose, even one for which another remedy may exist. The amendment to Art. 226(1-A) reiterates the Page 89 of 96 C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT targets of the writ power as inclusive of any person by the expressive reference to 'the residence of such person.' But it is one thing to affirm the jurisdiction, another to authorise its free exercise like a bull in a china shop. This Court has spelt out wise and clear restraints on the use of this extraordinary remedy and High Courts will not go beyond those wholesome inhibitions except where the monstrosity of the situation or other exceptional circumstances cry for timely judicial interdict or mandate. The mentor of law is justice and a potent drug should be judiciously administered. Speaking in critical retrospect and portentous prospect, the writ power has, by and large, been the people's sentinel on the qui vive and to cut back on or liquidate that power may cast a peril to human rights. We hold that the award here is not beyond the legal reach of Article 226, although this power must be kept in severely judicious leash."
45. The view taken by me in this matter as regards the maintainability of the present writ application under Article 226 of the Constitution against a Multi-State Cooperative Scheduled Bank in the peculiar facts of the case is fortified by a Full Bench decision of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh in the case of Vikram Chauhan vs. Managing Director, AIR (HP) 2013 083. The Hon'ble Chief Justice A.M. Khanwilkar (as his lordship then was) speaking for the Bench made the following observations;
"12. That takes us to the second part of the question formulated by the Division Bench, as to whether a writ would lie against the stated Cooperative Banks? This question, essentially, touches upon the scope of power of the High Courts to issue certain writs as predicated in Article 226 of the Constitution of India. This is completely independent issue. In a given case, in spite of the opinion recorded by the Court that the respondent concerned in a writ petition, filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, is not a State within the meaning of Article 12 of Page 90 of 96 C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT the Constitution of India. Even then, the High Court can exercise jurisdiction over such respondent in view of the expansive width of Article 226 of the Constitution of India. It is well established position that the power of the High Courts under Article 226 is as wide as the amplitude of the language used therein, which can affect any person even a private individual - and be available for any other purpose even one for which another remedy may exist (Rohtas Industries Ltd. and another vs. Rohtas Industries Staff Union and others (1976 2 SCC 82)15. In the case of Engineering Mazdoor Sabha and another vs. Hind Cycles Ltd. 1963 AIR (SC) 874 the Court opined that even if the Arbitrator appointed under Section 10-A is not a Tribunal for the purpose of Article 136 of the Constitution in a proper case, a writ may lie against his Award under Article 226 of the Constitution. In the case of Praga Tools Corporation vs. C.A. Imanual and others, 1969 1 SCC 585 the Apex Court held that it was not necessary that the person or the Authority on whom the statutory duty is imposed need be a public official or an official body. That a mandamus can be issued even to an official or a Society to compel him to carry out the terms of the statute under or by which the Society is constituted or governed and also to companies or corporations to carry out duties placed on them by the statutes authorizing their undertakings. Further, a mandamus would lie against a Company constituted by a statute for the purposes of fulfilling public responsibilities. In the same decision, the Apex Court examined the amplitude of the term "Authority" used in Article 226 of the Constitution. The Court opined that it must receive liberal meaning unlike the term in Article 12 of the Constitution. It went to observe that the words "any person or authority" used in Article 226 cannot be confined only to statutory authorities and instrumentalities of the State. It may cover any other person or body performing public duty irrespective of the form of the body concerned. It is emphasized that what is relevant for exercising power is the nature of the duty imposed on the body which must be a positive obligation owned by the person or Authority. Depending on that finding, the Court may invoke its authority to issue writ of mandamus. In the case of Life Insurance Corporation of India vs. Escorts Ltd. and others, 1986 1 SCC 264 the Constitution Bench opined that the question must be "decided in each case" with reference to particular Page 91 of 96 C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT action, the activity in which the State or the instrumentality of the State is enacted when performing the action, the public law or private law, character of the Constitution and most of the other relevant circumstances. In a given case, it may be possible to issue writ of mandamus for enforcement of public duty which need not necessarily to be one imposed by statute.
It may be sufficient for the duty to have been imposed by charter, common law, custom or even contract, as noted by Professor de Smith, which exposition has found favour with the Apex Court.
13. The Apex Court after referring to catena of decisions and authorities in the case of UP State Cooperative Land Development Bank Ltd. Vs. Chandra Bhan Dubey and others, 1999 1 SCC 741 has succinctly delineated the scope of authority under Article 226 of the Constitution. In para 27 of this decision, the Court opined that Article 226 while empowering the High Court for issue of orders or direction to any Authority or person does not make any difference between public functions or private functions, but did not go to elaborate that question in the fact situation of that case. It is unnecessary to multiply the authorities on the point except to observe that a writ would lie against even a Cooperative Society or Company. But that does not mean that the Court is bound to issue such a writ. It is the prerogative of the High Court to issue writ to any person or authority, which is not a State or an instrumentality of the State. The Court would do so with circumspection and keeping in mind the well defined parameters. Whether in the fact situation of a given case, the Court ought to exercise its authority to issue writ or order in the nature of writ under Article 226 of the Constitution, will have to be answered on the basis of the settled principles, on case to case basis. Thus, it will be inapposite to put it in a straight jacket manner that every writ petition filed against the Cooperative Banks must be dismissed as not maintainable or otherwise.
14. Counsel appearing for the parties invited our attention to several other decisions. However, we do not intend to dilate on all those authorities any further, except to mention the same. Counsel appearing for the Page 92 of 96 C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT Kangra Bank had relied on two Judges Bench decision in the case of Zorastrian Cooperative Housing Society Ltd. and another vs. District Registrar, Cooperative Societies (Urban and others), 2005 5 SCC 632 (para 32) which took the view that a Cooperative Society cannot be treated as State unless it fulfills the tests spelt out in Ajay Hasia's case by the Constitution Bench of the Apex Court, followed in the case of Praga Tools (supra). Reference was also made to the seven Judges Bench of the Apex Court in the case of Pradeep Kumar Biswas vs. Indian Institutes of Chemical Biology and others, 2002 5 SCC 111 (paras 1 to 4 and 40) and another decision in the case of Bhadra Shahakari S.K. Niyamita vs. Chitradurga Mazdoor Sangh and others,2006 8 SCC 552 (para 3) which deals with the question as to whether the appellant, Cooperative Society can be treated as State within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution. The learned Senior counsel for the H.P. Cooperative Society invited our attention to the decision of two Judges Bench of the Apex Court in General Manager, Kishan Sahkari Chini Mills Ltd. Sultanpur, UP vs. Satrughan Nishad and others, 2003 8 SCC 639 (paras 6 to 8) to contend that even if it is a case of nominated Directors of Society that does not presuppose that the State has perennial control over the Society. Reliance is also placed on the another decision of the Apex Court in the case of Shri Anadi Mukta Sadguru S.M.V.S.J.M.S. Trust vs. V.R. Rudani and others 1989 AIR (SC) 1607 (paras 14 to 16 and 19 to 21) and in case of Zee Telefilms Ltd. and another vs. Union of India and others, 2005 4 SCC 649 (paras 8,9 and 35)"
46. The Full Bench, ultimately, while proceeding to answer the reference apart from the answers to the other questions answered the question with regard to the maintainability of a writ application against a cooperative bank as under;
"As regards the second part of the question as to whether a writ would lie against the stated Cooperative Banks, we hold that it is not appropriate to give a definite answer to this question. For, it would depend on several attending factors. Further, even if the said Banks Page 93 of 96 C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT were held to be not a State within the meaning of Article 12, the High Court in exercise of powers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, can certainly issue a writ or order in the nature of writ even against any person or Authority, if the fact situation of the case so warrants. In other words, writ can lie even against a Corporative Society. Whether the same should be issued by the High Court would depend on the facts of each case."
47. Having taken the view that in the peculiar facts of the case the writ application is maintainable, the next question that falls for my consideration is whether the action of the MUCBL is justified in law. In this regard, I am of the view that an appropriate authority of the RBI or any other authority that may be appointed by the RBI should give an opportunity of hearing to the writ applicant as regards his role in the two companies is concerned, namely, (I) Vimal Dairy Ltd. and (ii) Swastik Ceracon Ltd. There is nothing on record to indicate that any opportunity of hearing had been given to the writ applicant In this regard except few correspondence in writing. The writ applicant is an elected Director of the MUCBL. He has been asked to step down from the office. Asking him to step down from the office of the post of the Director would definitely have some civil consequences. In such circumstances, one opportunity of hearing should be given to the writ applicant. Thereafter, it shall be open for the authority concerned to take an appropriate decision and pass an appropriate order in accordance with law.
48. There is one more reason why I am persuaded to hold that this writ application is maintainable. At the cost of repetition, I refer to the amended bye-laws framed by the Bank under the Act, 2002, more particularly, bye-law No.39, Page 94 of 96 C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT which is in respect to the removal of the elected directors by the General Body. Bye-law No.39 has been referred to in the earlier part of the judgment. This particular bye-law No.39 makes it very clear that an elected director of the Board can be removed on the basis of the report of the Central Registrar or upon resolution of the General Body passed by its meeting by majority not less than 2/3rd of the members present if it is found that the Director concerned shall not be removed unless he has been given a reasonable opportunity of making a representation in the matter. This word representation is sought to be read and understood as a written representation and nothing beyond that. To put it in other words, it is sought to be argued on behalf of the respondents that for the purpose of invoking bye-law No.39, there is no obligation to give a personal hearing to the concerned Director before his removal.
49. I am not impressed by such a submission. Reasonable opportunity of making a representation should be read as an opportunity of hearing to the concerned Director in person. It may not be feasible or possible to explain everything in a representation. In such circumstances, if an opportunity is given to a concerned Director of personal hearing in person, the same may make a difference.
50. I am of the view that the bye-law No.39 has not been complied with in its proper perspective. In such a situation, an order passed by the CEO of the Bank on the basis of the resolution passed by the Board of Directors against one of its Directors in violation of the bye-laws, can be corrected by way of a writ petition. This is not because the bye-laws have the Page 95 of 96 C/SCA/12852/2018 JUDGMENT force of law, but on the ground that having framed the bye- laws prescribing the mode and method of removal of a Director, the Society must follow them, in the interest of fairness. If it is left to the sweet will and pleasure of the Society either to follow or not to follow the bye-laws, it would be inherently arbitrary, and may very likely give rise to discriminatory treatment. (see Srikonaseema Co-operative Central Bank Ltd. & Another Vs. N. Seetharama Raja, Air 1990 Andhra Pradesh 171)
51. In view of the above, this writ application is allowed in part. The communication dated 16th August, 2018 of the MUCBL to the writ applicant, Annexure-A to this writ application, Page-16 is hereby quashed. The RBI shall give one opportunity of hearing to the writ applicant and, thereafter, take an appropriate decision in accordance with law. While giving an opportunity of hearing to the writ applicant, the MUCBL shall also be heard through one of its authorized officers, and a representative from the Government of India (Ministry of Agriculture) shall also be heard. Let this exercise be undertaken at the earliest and an appropriate decision shall be taken within a period of three months from the date of the receipt of the writ of this order.
52. With the above, this writ application is disposed of.
(J.B.PARDIWALA, J) Vahid Page 96 of 96


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| saveWidget {htmlwidgets} | R Documentation |
Save a rendered widget to an HTML file (e.g. for sharing with others).
saveWidget( widget, file, selfcontained = TRUE, libdir = NULL, background = "white", title = class(widget)[[1]], knitrOptions = list() )
widget |
Widget to save |
file |
File to save HTML into |
selfcontained |
Whether to save the HTML as a single self-contained file (with external resources base64 encoded) or a file with external resources placed in an adjacent directory. |
libdir |
Directory to copy HTML dependencies into (defaults to filename_files). |
background |
Text string giving the html background color of the widget. Defaults to white. |
title |
Text to use as the title of the generated page. |
knitrOptions |
A list of knitr chunk options. |


| Twitch OAuth Token Generator |
|---|
https://yonixw.github.io/twitchapp2.html By accepting you give this app permission to check your subscription and access chat. This application uses the implicit grant flow for the Twitch API to retrieve your token. This means that your token is only ever visible to your browser and not our server. This wizard was taken from https://twitchapps.com/tokengen/ all rights are reseverd by them. |


Kanye West’s Next Project Is A Nebuchadnezzar Opera About The King Who Was Punished For His Arrogance
by Jamie SamhanNow that Kanye West’s Jesus Is King album is a success, the rapper is working on his next project– an opera based on Nebuchadnezzar.
Nebuchadnezzar was a Babylonian King who is also mentioned many times in the Old Testament and punished for his arrogance.
West teased the opera on Twitter on Sunday with a gold engraving of the king. Nebuchadnezzar will be directed by Italian artist Vanessa Beecroft and will include music from West’s Sunday Service performers.
West is known for his boasting, even telling Joel Osteen while visiting his Houston megachurch this weekend he had long had an “arrogance and cockiness” about his fame, but now believes that “God is now using it for Him.”
Although his humility was short-lived when West stated, “Jesus has won the victory because now the greatest artist that God has ever created is working for Him.”
The key lesson in Nebuchadnezzar’s part in the Bible is that he gets punished for his pride and vanity after the disciple Daniel warns him not to build his palace.
“Look at this great city of Babylon! By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendour,” Nebuchadnezzar reportedly said according to Daniel.
And like that God humbled him. “Even as the words were on his lips, a voice came from heaven, ‘This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you,'” the passage reads.
“[God] is saying, Let me take this Nebuchadnezzar-type character—Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon, and he looked at his entire kingdom and said, I did this,” West said to Zane Lowe during a recent Beats 1 interview.
Then contradicting the entire lesson the story of Nebuchadnezzar teaches, said, “I stood on the top of the mountain talking about Yeezus, saying, ‘I’m a God’—I had a guy dressed as Jesus.”
Perhaps West should read over the passage again before the opera debuts on Nov. 24.
Tickets for the Hollywood Bowl show go on sale on Monday at noon.


First there were punch cards. Then keyboards. Next came the mouse. The exponentially growing power of computers may call for a new, more elegant way of inputing data. Wouldn't it be nice to say "Computer, Open Netscape", or dictate a paper into a text editor instead of typing?
We plan to use wavelets in exploring speech interpretation. The continious wavelet transform can be used to transform a time varying signal (speech audio in our case) to a time frequency domain. One of the advantages we gain by using the CWT over traditional Fourier Transform is that time information is more readily avaliable. We hope to use this time information to process different voices saying strings of words.
Using Matlab extensively, we will build (program) an interpreter. We will transform speech signals of words like "cat", "hat", "rat" into time-frequency representations and see how well we can differentiate the words. We will also explore our interpreters ability to differentiate between speakers. Finally we hope to develop a process that will be able to tell when a few words are spoken, what those words are, what order were they spoken in, and who spoke them.
Probelms we hope to tackle:


Self-assembling system uses magnets to mimic specific binding in DNA
| Source: | Cornell University |
| Summary: | Physicists are using the binding power of magnets to design self-assembling systems that potentially can be created in nanoscale form. |
Sometimes it's best to let the magnets do all the work.
A team led by Cornell University physics professors Itai Cohen and Paul McEuen is using the binding power of magnets to design self-assembling systems that potentially can be created in nanoscale form.
Their paper, "Magnetic Handshake Materials as A Scale-Invariant Platform for Programmed Self-Assembly," published Nov. 21 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
To make small systems — such as miniature machines, gels and metamaterials — that essentially build themselves, the researchers took inspiration from DNA origami, in which atomic-scale DNA strands can be folded into two- and three-dimensional structures through a process called complementary base pairing, where specific nucleotides bind to one another: A to T and G to C.
Rather than relying on atomic bonds, the team was drawn to another form of attraction: magnetics. Here, the attraction and repulsion between multiple magnets can serve as a kind of intelligent connection, like a handshake. Magnetic interactions also make for strong, versatile bonds that aren't easily disrupted by thermal effects. With a large enough array of magnets in a variety of orientations, thousands of different configurations would be possible.
The researchers tested their design theory by making centimeter-sized acrylic panels, each containing four tiny magnets in a square pattern. This arrangement allowed them to make four unique magnetic interactions.
"By controlling the pattern of magnetic dipoles on each panel, we can essentially get lock-and-key binding," said Cohen. "And by gluing these panels onto a flexible mylar strip in designed sequences, we created our basic building blocks."
To activate the self-assembly, the separate strands were scattered on a shaker table, with the table's vibrations preventing the magnets from forming bonds. As the shaking amplitude was decreased, the magnets attached in their designated order and the strands formed the target structures.
The ultimate goal, says Cohen, is to produce nanoscale versions of these systems, with self-assembling units that are only a hundred nanometers in diameter, or a thousandth of a human hair in diameter.
"It is quite a broad platform with many applications that are very exciting and interesting," said postdoctoral researcher Ran Niu, the paper's lead author. "You can design a lot of structures. We can build optically active actuators. We can build functional machines that we can control."
The project was recently awarded a $1.1 million Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer Our Future grant from the National Science Foundation, which will enable the team to further explore nanoscale incarnations.
"The part that really interests me is the idea of just how structure and information interact to make shape-changing machines," said senior co-author McEuen, the John A. Newman Professor of Physical Science and director of the Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science, where Cohen is a senior investigator. "So RNA, for example, is this incredibly amazing molecule in our bodies that has a lot of information in it, but also has all sorts of interesting functions. And so this is sort of an analog of that system, where we can begin to understand how you mix information and structure to get complex behavior."
While nanoscale machines and self-assembling systems are not new, this project marks the first time the two concepts have been combined with magnetic encoding.
"The vision is that one day I will simply hand you a magnetic disk, you put it into your hard drive, it writes all the magnetic codes that you designed, then you take it and put it in some acid to release the building blocks," Cohen said. "All the little strands with the magnetic patterns that we encoded would come together and self-assemble into some sort of machine that we could control using external magnetic fields."
"This work opens up the field of design," Cohen added. "We're now giving people who are interested in the mathematics of designing materials from scratch a tool set that is incredibly powerful. There's really no end to the creativity and potential for interesting designs to come out of that."
The potential learning opportunities can be found in the research team itself. The paper's co-authors include Edward Esposito, a former university staff member who audited Cohen's Electricity and Magnetism honors class and became a technician in Cohen's lab. He is now pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago. And co-author Jakin Ng is an Ithaca High School student who started working part time in Cohen's lab through the Learning Web youth experiential education program. Ng's knowledge of origami patterns helped the researchers design some of their structures.
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Story Source:
Materials provided by Cornell University. Original written by David Nutt.
Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
- Ran Niu, Chrisy Xiyu Du, Edward Esposito, Jakin Ng, Michael P. Brenner, Paul L. McEuen, Itai Cohen. Magnetic handshake materials as a scale-invariant platform for programmed self-assembly. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2019; 201910332 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1910332116
Cite This Page:
| MLA | Cornell University. "Self-assembling system uses magnets to mimic specific binding in DNA." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 25 November 2019. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191125131309.htm>. |
| APA | Cornell University. (2019, November 25). Self-assembling system uses magnets to mimic specific binding in DNA. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 25, 2019 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191125131309.htm |
| Chicago | Cornell University. "Self-assembling system uses magnets to mimic specific binding in DNA." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191125131309.htm (accessed November 25, 2019). |


Complexity:
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Increase the "Complexity" (at top) from 1 to 2 to practice with expressions where you need to do arithmetic inside and outside the function (f(1+2) or 2+f(3)).
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--- layout: post title: "My Week in Review" date: 2016-10-23 05:05:00 +0000 tags: image: https://s3.amazonaws.com/audreywatters/2016-1o-23-pelican.jpg imagecredits: https://www.flickr.com/photos/frankzed/5920471192 ---
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I can build a responsive template in an hour, try me. I am very comforable with HTML, CSS, jQuery, Javascript and Twitter Bootstrap. I have experience with MVC frameworks like Angular, React and Laravel. I'm also media query friendly!
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The place where you mouse has to be in order to use the re-size squares and move item is half way up the actual item.
Test this by hovering you mouse over the top of the item and moving it to the bottom. The circle shows this the best.
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BrainFooLong
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I need to know when exactly this happens.
I can't reproduce it, and, happen it without bblog?
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BrainFooLong wrote:
I need to know when exactly this happens.
I can't reproduce it, and, happen it without bblog?
It happens when I try to edit my emblems, both versions, 3.7.0 and <IP_ADDRESS> on Firefox and Chrome. It has something to do with the Better Battlelog Shortcuts. When I disable this feature it does work.
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BrainFooLong
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Finally got a fix for that. They store for some reason the offset of the canvas to the page as a fixed value on page init. Will be fixed in next release.


Tutor time is a conceptual application geared towards high school students to help them with their homework. The main concept of the application is pairing up students with available tutors, and having them work collaboratively on homework or other academic goals.
A basic demonstration of the application's key features can be found here
Tutor Time was created as a project for SI 582 - Introduction to interaction design. Our goal was to create a digital product (website or mobile application) that helps solve a problem for a community of our choice. The community I chose is high school students that struggle in school. This community was chosen because high schoolers face unique challenges, and I wanted to create an application that both helped those who need it, and requires me as a designer to get out of my comfort zone and try working on something different.
After deciding to work with high schoolers that need help in school, I began the ideation phase of the project. The goal of this phase was to come up with as many ideas as possible with no regard for technical limitations or realism. Below is a small sample of the ideas I came up with for this project.
After coming up with several ideas, it was time to solicit feedback and refine them into more concrete and realistic solutions. To do this, we split up into small teams and each critiqued each others ideas and offered suggestions for improvement. These suggestions helped narrow down my application into real-world concepts which can be seen the storyboards.
Normally, this step would occur much earlier in the design process, but for this project user interviews came later so ideas and concepts were not constrained by real world users. I was able to get ahold of several current middle and high school students and ask them about the unique challenges they face, what their frustrations are, and how things could be improved. My findings were as follows:
After learning about my users needs and frustrations through interviews, I was able to take that information and create 5 persona's that helped me, as a UX designer, think about how real people would actually use my application. Additionally I also created one anti-persona to show that some users have no need for this application.
The next step in the design process was to create paper prototypes based on all of the feedback and research that had been previously done. The goal of the paper prototyping was to simply get my ideas down on paper, and start to get an idea of what content would be present on each screen. I created screens that could be used to complete 10 unique tasks using the application, these tasks include...
Before being able to test my paper prototypes with actual participants, I solicited feedback from my peers to catch any major usability issues so they could be fixed before actual testing. During these sessions we conducted a mock usability test where participants would go through each of the 10 previous tasks while I observed as a moderator and a note taker.
The peer usability testing helped iron out some of the issues with my first design attempt. The participants I had for this testing felt that several elements used within the design, such as text entry areas and the general icon tray at the bottom were too large and taking up too much real-estate and attention from the actual content of the app.
After gathering feedback from the usability testing, the following changes were made:
Once all the changes were made to my paper prototypes, it was time to test the prototypes with potential users. For these tests, I found two participants that had no prior relationship to the project. They performed the 10 tasks as the previous versions and provided feedback based on their experiences.
The usability testing revealed a few issues with my current design. The biggest issue found was the rating system that was being used after a session was complete. My original design used grades to rate the people who helped you on a scale from A to F, but during the testing it became apparent that participants had no idea what the scale was supposed to represent and found it confusing to use in general.
After gathering feedback from the usability testing, the following changes were made:
After two rounds of usability testing, I transitioned from low fidelity paper prototypes to medium/high fidelity digital prototypes. To accomplish this, I used Adobe Illustrator for all my screen designs and InvisionApp to link them all together into a functioning prototype.
 All screens can be viewed in the prototype demonstration.