Judgment

S. C. AGRAWAL, J. :-The petitioners in this writ petition filed under Art. 32 of the Constitution are retired employees of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd., an undertaking of the Government of India. Originally they were in the employment of Burmah Shell Oil Storage & Distributing Company of India Ltd. (for short Burmah Shell). In Burmah Shell there was a voluntary pension scheme wherein the employees on retirement were entitled to a prescribed percentage of their basic pay as pension: The pension was paid out of the non-contributory pension fund governed by a trust created in the year 1950. The said scheme was effective from January 1, 1947. Under the Regulations governing the payment of pension, provision was made for commutation of a part of the pension at the time of retirement by payment of a lump sum amount and making of a proportionate deduction from the monthly pension paid to the employee for repayment of the said amount. Burmah Shell was nationalised and taken over by the Government of India by the Burmah Shell (Acquisition of Undertakings in India) Act, 1976. Subsequently the shares of Burmah Shell Refineries (India) Ltd. were also acquired by the Government of