JUDGMENT

Ruma Pal, J.—Leave granted.

2. These appeals arise out of a dispute over the seniority of co-pilots employed by the first appellant, Air India Ltd. The contending parties are two groups of co-pilots, namely, the respondents 1 to 6 (referred to hereafter as the ‘writ petitioners’) and the respondents 7 to 12. The bone of contention is whether seniority as a co-pilot is to be calculated from the day a pilot gets an Air Lines Transport Pilot Licence (ALTP) or from the day the pilot enters the service of the first appellant with only a commercial pilot’s licence (CPL). The differences between an ALTP and CPL as provided in Schedule II of the Aircraft Rules 1937 are inter alia that an ALTP licence holder has at least 1500 hours of flying of which 500 hours is as a pilot-in-command. A CPL holder has to have 250 flying hours with 150 hours as a pilot-in-command. However apart from noting this, we do not propose to decide this dispute as the issue which actually arises for decision before us is much narrower. The question is whether the High Court by the order impugned in this appeal should have decided the contention itself or left it to the Industrial Tribunal to decide.

3. The fir