Judgment

PATHAK, J.:- These appeals, by special leave, raise the question whether the respondents are entitled to claim fixation of their seniority in the Subordinate Accounts Service after taking into account their length of service as Upper Division Clerks. The respondents entered service in the Office of the Accountant General, Tamil Nadu as Upper Division Clerks. They appeared in the Subordinate Accounts Service Examination but it was only after a number of attempts that they succeeded in passing. They passed the examination held in November, 1969 and were promoted shortly thereafter. They claimed seniority on the basis that their length of service in the inferior post should be taken into account, and rested their claim on paragraph 143, of the Manual of Standing Orders issued by the Comptroller and Auditor General as it stood before its amendment by a correction slip of 27th July, 1956. The correction slip removed the factor of weightage on the basis of length of service in the determination of seniority. The claim was rejected by the Comptroller and Auditor General. A writ petition filed by them in the High Court of Madras was allowed by a learned single Judge, and his judgme