Judgment

RANGANATH MISRA, J. - This appeal is by special leave and is directed against the appellate judgment of a Division Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court upholding the rejection of the writ petition by a single Judge of that High Court. Appellants are engineers in the establishment of the Chief Engineer (Road and Building) of the Andhra Pradesh Government and the dispute is one of inter se seniority between them on the one side and respondents 3 and 4 on the other.

2. Appellants filed a Writ Petition being No. 4151 of 1972 in the High Court of Andhra Pradesh claiming a direction to the State Government for considering them for promotion to the post of Executive Engineer on the basis that they were senior to five promotee Assistant Engineers. A learned single Judge disposed of the said writ petition by judgment dated 29th March, 1973, and gave the following directions.

"The respondents 1 and 2 (State of Andhra Pradesh and its Chief Engineer respectively) will, therefore, consider the claims of the petitioners for promotion as Executive Engineers having regard to their seniority in the cadre of Assistant Engineers in relation to the seniority of respondents 3 to 7. I, therefore