JUDGMENT

VERMA, J.:—These appeals by special leave are disposed of by this common judgment since they involve common questions. Civil Appeal No. 1774 of 1990 is against the judgment of the Delhi High Court while Civil

Appeal No. 4457 of 1990 arises out of a similar judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

2. The appellants in both these appeals are aggrieved by the promotion policy of the respondent, the State Bank of India contained in Annexure A dated 31-10-1983 read with the Circular dated 13-9-1989 for promotion from the cadre of Junior Management Grade-I (Rs. 1175-2675) to; Middle Management Grade-II (Rs. 1825-2925). The policy provides for two channels for promotion, namely, the Merit Channel and the Seniority Channel. For filling vacancies by promotion from the cadre of Junior Management Grade1 to that of Middle Management Grade-11, 65% of the total vacancies were reserved for the Seniority Channel and the remaining 35% for the Merit Channel. The challenge in these appeals is to the filling by promotion of the vacancies through the Merit Channel. The criterion mentioned in the policy for the Merit Channel provides 40 per cent marks for written test, 10 per cent marks for