C.W.P. No. 1573 of 1990 [ 1 ] IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA, CHANDIGARH C.W.P. No. 1573 of 1990 Date of Decision: Feb. 23, 2010 Udham Singh...................................................... Petitioner Versus The State of Punjab and others ....................... Respondents Coram: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Ashutosh Mohunta Present: None for the petitioner. Mr. O.P. Dabla, DAG, Punjab. ... ASHUTOSH MOHUNTA, J. (Oral) The petitioner has prayed that directions be issued to the respondents to fix the seniority of the petitioner in view of the benefits given by the State to Ex-Military Servicemen from 9.1.1963 to 10.1.1968 (service in Emergency) under the Punjab Government National Emergency (Concession) Rules, 1965 (for short `the Emergency Rules,1965'). The petitioner has also prayed for the grant of consequential benefits such as seniority, increments in pay and proportional benefits and promotion. The petitioner was appointed as a Chowkidar in the office of Punjab Panchayati Raj Khed Parishad, Chandigarh, on 8.1.1980. It is the case of the petitioner that prior to joining the respondent department, the petitioner had served with the Military with effect from 9.1.1963 to C.W.P. No. 1573 of 1990 [ 2 ] 10.1.1968 and as per the Punjab Government letter dated 25.1.1986 (Annexure P-2), benefit of the said period is to be given to all persons who had rendered military service. On the basis of having rendered military service, the petitioner prays that he is entitled to be given all the benefits in terms of the Emergency Rules, 1965. Reply has been filed on behalf of the respondents wherein a preliminary objection has been raised that the Punjab Panchayati Raj Khed Parishad, Chandigarh, is a registered Society and does not fall within the definition of State as per Article 12 of the Constitution of India and, hence, the present writ petition is not maintainable. It has further been averred that the main source of financial assistance to the Punjab Panchayati Raj Khed Parishad is from Panchayat Zila Parishads and Panchayat Samitis in the shape of contribution. It is further the case of the respondents that neither it is entirely dependent on the State nor the State has any control over the functions and respondent No.2 is not constituted under a statute. It is an independent autonomous body and cannot be termed as an instrumentality of the State and, hence no writ petition is maintainable. On merits, it has been averred that the seniority list given in Annexure P-1 is only a tentative seniority-list and no final seniority-list has been prepared by the Organisation so far. It has further been averred that there is a single post in the Chowkidar cadre in the Organisation and, hence, no seniority-list is required. It has further been averred that the petitioner cannot be made senior to Baldev Singh and Baljinder Singh as they belong to a different cadre. It has lastly been contended that the writ petition has been filed after a lapse of 10 years and, hence, the same is liable to be dismissed on the ground of delay and laches also. C.W.P. No. 1573 of 1990 [ 3 ] No one has put in appearance on behalf of the petitioner. After going through the averments made in the writ petition and hearing the counsel for the State, I am of the considered opinion that as the Punjab Panchayati Raj Khed Parishad, Chandigarh, is a registered Society and operates from contributions received from Panchayat Zila Parishads and Panchayat Samitis and neither it is entirely dependent on the State nor the State has any control over its functions as per the reply of the respondents, hence, being a registered society it does not fall within the definition of State in terms of Article 12 of the Constitution of India and, therefore, the writ petition is not maintainable. Apart from the above, the petition has been filed after an inordinate delay of 10 years and, hence, the same is dismissed on the ground of delay and laches. 23.2.2010 ( ASHUTOSH MOHUNTA ) Rupi JUDGE