JUDGMENT

M.M.DUTT, J.

(1) HESE special leave petitions have been heard at length and elaborate submissions have been made on behalf of the parties at the prelimmary hearing and, accordingly, we grant special leave in all these matters and proceed to dispose of the same on merits.

(2) THESE appeals have been preferred by the Union of India and some erstwhile Emergency Commissioned Officers (for short ECOs) and .Short Service Commissioned Officers (for short SSCOs) and directed either against the judgment of the learned Single Judge of the Calcutta High court or against the judgment of the central Administrative tribunal, Bangalore. The tribunal has struck down the impugned rules, namely. Rule 3(2(d) of the Indian Forest Service (Regulation of Seniority) Rules, 1968, hereinafter referred to asINDIAN FOREIGN SERVICE (Regulation of Seniority) Rules, 1968, and clauses (c) and (d) of sub-rule (3 of Rule 3 of the Indian Police Service (Regulation of Seniority) Rules, 1954, hereinafter referred to asINDIAN FOREIGN SERVICE (Regulation of Seniority) Rules, 1954, as ultra vires Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India and has directed the government of India to assign fresh years of allotment to the ECOs and SSCOs, who were some of the respondents before the tribunal.

(3) BEFORE the Calcutta High court, Rule 3(2(d) of the INDIAN POLICE SERVICE (Regulation of Seniority) Rules, 1954 was involved and the High court on a construction of that rule allowed the writ petitioo of the respondents and set aside the impugned order rebtoif to the year of allotment of ECOs and SSCOs.

(4) THE period between November 1, 1962 and 10/01/1968 is marked by three events, namely, Indo-China War followed by Indo-Pakistan War and the proclamation of emergency. These ECOs and SSCOs voluntarily entered the Armed Forces of the Union of India at a time when the security of the nation was in peril due to external aggression. As they were engaged in defending the country by accepting the war service, they did not get any opportunity to enter Into the civil services. The central government assured them that after the cessation of emergency, they will be rehabilitated in civil life so that they might not suffer on account of their rendering services to the nation. The grievance of the respondents who have been recruited to Indian Forest Service or the Indian Police Service from State Services is that although the ECOs or SSCOs, have been recruited in the said All India Services after the respondents, yet their year of appointment has been fixed earlier than the year of allotment of the respondents.

(5) AT this stage, we may refer to the impugned rules. Rule 3(2(d) of theINDIAN FOREIGN SERVICE (Regulation of Seniority) Rules, 1968 provides as follows:

"3.(2 The year of allotment of an officer appointed to the Service snail be

(D) Where an officer is appointed to the Service in accordance with Rule 7-A of the Recruitment Rules, deemed to be the year in which he would have been so appointed at his first or second attempt after the date of joining pre-commission training or the date of his commission wnere there was only post-commission training according as be qualified for appointment to the Service in nis first or second chance, as the case may be, having been eligible under Regulation 4 of the Indian Forest Service (Appointment by Competitive Examination) Regulations, 196/.

EXPLANATION.- If an officer, who qualified himself for appointment to the Service in a particular year, could not be so appointed in that year on account of non-availability of a vacancy and is actually appointed in the next year, then his year of allotment would be depressed by one year. He shall be placed above all the officers recruited under Rule 7-A of the Recruitment Rules and who have the same year of allotment."

(6) RULE 3(2(d) refers to Rule 7-A of the Recruitment Rules which provides, inter alia that till 28/01/1974,