JUDGMENT

JAGANNATHA SHETTY J.:— These two appeals by leave are from the judgment of the Delhi High Court dated 12 July 1985 in L.P. A. No. 8 of 1978 (reported in 1986 Lab IC 1817).

2. The first appellant in the first appeal is the Delhi Water Supply and Sewage Disposal Undertaking (the "Undertaking"). The appellants in the next appeal are some of the Executive Engineers in the Undertaking. The common case of the appellants is that the inter se seniority in the cadre of Executive Engineers after their regularisation should reflect the corresponding rankings in the feeding cadre of Assistant Engineers. But the contesting respondents who are also Executive Engineers contend to the contrary. Their case is that the continuous officiation in the post till regularisation should be the basis for determining the seniority. These rival contentions are required to be decided in the appeals.

3. The facts leading to the appeals are not in dispute and may briefly be stated thus:

The Municipal administration of the Union Territory of Delhi is governed by an Act called the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act (the "Act"). The Act came into force on 7 April 1958. S. 92 of the Act provides power -to the Und