JUDGMENT

SAWANT, J.:—Leave granted.

2. The appeal is filed by the General Manager, Northern Railways against the decision dated 14th September, 1988 of the Central Administrative Tribunal, New Delhi.

3. In order to appreciate the grievance of the appellant-Railways against the impugned order, it is necessary to state the relevant facts in brief. Respondent-employees who are Traffic Apprentices belonged to Class 111 Service which has four grades, and the four grades carry different pay-scales as follow:

(i) Grade-I - Rs. 250-380/-

(ii) Grade-II - Rs. 335-425/-

(iii) Grade-III - Rs. 370-475/-

(iv) Grade-IV - Rs. 450-575

The promotion to the alternate grade in the said four grades is by selection. However, the appointments to all the four grades is by promotion. Above Class-III posts, are Class II and Class-I posts. Class-I posts are in Junior Scale grade, Senior Scale grade, Junior Administrative Grade and Senior Administrative Grade. The entire Class-II service is filled by promotion by selection from Class-III service. In Class-1 service, 60 per cent posts -are filled by direct recruitment and 40 per cent by promotion from Class-II service. The recruitment as well as promotion to Clas