Gurcharan Singh vs Registrar, Co-Operative Societies, ...

The Supreme Court held that the High Court of Himachal Pradesh erred in dismissing the writ petition on the grounds of jurisdiction, as the respondent Cooperative Society's status under Article 12 of the Constitution was not adequately examined. Citing the seven-judge bench decision in Pradeep Kumar Biswas v. Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, the Court emphasized that the determination of whether a body qualifies as 'State' under Article 12 requires a comprehensive assessment of government control. The Court restored the writ petition for the High Court to reassess its maintainability and merits, without expressing any opinion on the case's substance.