JUDGMENT

D.P. Wadhwa, J.-The appellant bank is aggrieved by the judgment dated May 24, 1991 of the Division Bench of the Guwahati High Court allowing the writ petition of the respondents and holding that the benefits which are being enjoyed by the transferred officers of the bank to North-Eastern region could also be available to respondents who are direct recruits and posted to the North-Eastern region for the first time either on probation or otherwise.

2. The appellant is a Public Sector Bank. A communication dated September 1, 1983 was addressed by the Central Government in the Ministry of Finance Department of Economic Affairs (Banking Division) to all the Chief Executives of Public Sector Banks on the subject of ad hoc and temporary incentives to the employees of the Banks posed in North-Eastern region. The reasons which led the Central Government to issue such a communication are stated in the first para of the letter which we reproduce as under :

"Sir,

I am directed to say that the question of providing special ad hoc, temporary incentives to officers of Public Sector Bank, with a view to facilitate their movement to branches/offices located in States and Union Territories in North-Eastern region, has been under consideration of the Government for some time. In view of the very special circumstances prevailing in the area, it is felt that some special, temporary incentives need to be given to such of the officers as are posted from other parts of the country to BRANCHES/ offices located in States/Union Territories in the North-Eastern Region. The Bank could even ask for volunteers to be posted in the North-Eastern Area for a period of two years."

3. Therefore, incentives are listed which were to be made available to the transferred officers from other parts of the country. These are (i) transferred officer on completion of his tenure, be posted for a period of three years to a place of his choice out of three places to be indicated by him; (ii) the transferred officer may retain his furnished or non-furnished accommodation, as the case may be, at the last place of his posting or alternatively may be allotted accommodation at a place of his choice on payment of usual 10% or 12% of his pay, as the case may be. Where the transferred officer has not been provided with accommodation by the Bank at his last place of posting, the Bank should, on request, provide him, on the basis of recovery of usual rent, accommodation to his family preferably at a place indicated by the officer; (iii) the transferred officer who retains the accommodation at the last place of posting or on a place of his choice may be given free furnished single accommodation appropriate to his status at the new place of posting in North-Eastern region; (iv) the transferred officer may be paid as per the entitlement mid-academic transfer allowance for the entire period of his posting in the North-Eastern region irrespective of the date of transfer provided the children of such officer did not join the officer on the new place of posting; (5) such transferred officer would be entitled to Leave Travel Concession once in a year to the place where his family is residing; and (vi) the transferred officer would also be entitled to ad hoc, out of turn increase in salary specifically for the duration of his active duty only in a post in the North-Eastern region. The out of turn, ad hoc increase salary will be regulated in the manner as the salary is fixed when an officer is placed in the immediately next higher scale. Such shall not confer any other benefit than the temporary monetary gain in basic pay and D.A. for the specific duration of active duty in any post in the North-Eastern region.

4. Some additional incentives were also mentioned to be provided to all officers of the Bank posted in the North-Eastern region.

5. On the advice of the Central Government as communicated by letter dated September 1, 1983, the appellant Bank issued guidelines on January 11, 1984 adopti