JUDGMENT

MADON, J.:— These two Appeals by Special Leave granted by this Court raise a common question of law as regards the maximum amount of pension for superior service admissible under clause (b) of sub-rule (1) of Rule 299 of the Hyderabad Civil Services Rules. According to the Appellant in each of these two appeals, such amount is Rs. 1,000 per month while according to the State of Andhra Pradesh, the Respondent in both these Appeals, it is Rs. 857.15 pet month.

2. Before considering which of these two rival contentions is correct, it would be convenient to relate first the relevant facts which have given rise to this controversy.

3. Prior to the coming into force of the Constitution of India on January 26, 1950, Hyderabad was an Indian State within the meaning of that term as defined in Section 311 (1) of the Government of India Act, 1935, and its Ruler within the meaning of that term as defined in the said Section 311(1) was the Nizam. The Appellant in Civil Appeal No. 2627 of 1977, Ahmed Hussain Khan, joined the service of the Public Works Department of the erstwhile Indian State of Hyderabad in the year 1945 and retired on April 5, 1972, as Chief Engineer, Electricity (Opera