Judgment

KOSHAL, J.:- By this judgment we shall dispose of Civil Appeals Nos. 3520 to 3524 of 1979 which are directed against a common judgment dated 11-9-1979 of a Division Bench of the High Court of Kerala holding that in the Department of Education of the State of Kerala the post of Assistant Educational Officer (hereinafter described as A. E. O.) is not a promotion post vis-a-vis that of a High School Assistant (hereinafter referred to as H. S. A.), that the two posts are interchangeable and that consequently the reversion of the solitary appellant in each case from the post of A. E. O. to that of H. S. A. is not violative of Article 16 of the Constitution.

2. It is not disputed before us that each of the appellants had been holding the post of A. E. O. for more than six years continuously when his reversion was ordered in implementation of the instructions issued by the State Government through a letter dated the 19th May, 1977 to the effect that every A. E. O. should be transferred back as H. S. A. after six years of service as A. E. O. or even earlier on administrative grounds. Each reversion was challenged before the Kerala High Court by means of a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India with the prayer that the same be quashed. Two of the petitions were dismissed by a learned single Judge whose orders were challenged in Letters Patent appeals which were heard and dismissed by the impugned judgment along with the other three petitions. The five appeals have been admitted in pursuance of special leave granted by this Court.

3. On behalf of the appellants two contentions have been raised :

(a) The post of A. E. O. lies in a category and carries a grade higher than those of the post of H. S. A. and is, therefore, a post of promotion vis-a-vis the other so that the two cannot be considered as interchangeable especially because there is no rule, direction or instruction laying down expressly or by necessary implication that they are equivalent to each other.

(b) Even if the appointment of an H. S. A. as an A. E. O. cannot be regarded as a promotion, the impugned reversions are violative of Article 14 as no guidelines to regulate them have been provided in spite of the fact that the post of an A. E. O. carries a special pay which is not) available to an H. S. A.

After hearing learned counsel for the parties at length we find both these contentions to be weighty.

4. Promotion is thus defined in cl. (11) of R. 2 of the Kerala State and Subordinate Services Rules. 1958:

"(11) Promotion means the appointment of a member of any category or grade of a service or a class of service to a higher category or grade of such service or class."

This definition fully conforms to the meaning of promotion as understood in ordinary parlance and also as a term frequently used in cases involving service laws. According to it a person already holding a post would have a promotion if he is appointed to another post which satisfies either of the following two conditions, namely-

(i) that the new post is in a higher category of the same service or class of service :

(ii) the new post carries a higher grade in the same service or class.

It is common ground between the parties that in the instant case the two posts belong to the same service or class of service. Applying the above test, therefore, to them it would follow that the appointment of an H. S. A. to the post of an A. E. O. would be a promotion if, and only if

(a) the post of an A. E. O. is of a higher category than that of an H. S. A., or

(b) the post of an A. E. O. carries a higher grade than that of an H. S. A. In case of either of these conditions being fulfilled, the appointment of an H. S. A. to the post of an A. E. O. would be a promotion within the meaning of the clause above reproduced.

5. For ascertaining whether or not the post of A. E. O. lies in a category higher than that of an H. S. A. a reference may be made to clauses (5) and (7a) of Rule 2 of the Kerala Education Rules, 1