JUDGMENT

K. Ramaswamy. J.-Leave granted.

2. These appeals by special leave filed by some of the employees and by the Union of India, arise from the orders of Calcutta, Allahabad, New Delhi and Lucknow Benches of the Central Administrative Tribunal. The facts in the main appeal filed by Mrs. Anuradha Mukherjee, are sufficient for disposal of the controversy raised in all these appeals.

3. The appellants are graduates appointed as Lower Division Clerks- Grade II on different dates between 1968 to 1982. The Railway Administration restructured the ministerial cadres in the Railways; determined their gradewise percentage of the posts and made distribution. We are concerned in these cases with Clerks (Grade I) in the pay scale of Rs. 3.30-560/-. 40% of the vacancies existing prior to October 1, 1980 in the Clerks category were earmarked for Clerks (Grade I) by Railway Board s letter dated June 1,1979. Subsequently it was revised by Board s letter dated November 10, 1981 to 57.5%.

4. Under the Board s letter dated November 10, 1980 to bring about qualitative improvement in the functioning of the restructured cadres in the Personnel Department, it was decided to fill up 20% of those total pos