ORDER

1. The foundation of the decisions impugned in these appeals and special leave petitions is a two - Judge Benchs order in Raghu Nandan Lal Chaudhary v. Union of India1. The only conclusion which can be culled out from the order reads as follows: (SCC p. 407, para 3)

"3. In view of the decision of this Court in Common Cause v. Union of India2 the 15 - year period or the age of 70 years, as fixed therein, has to apply and learned counsel for the petitioners does not dispute this c position. There can also be no dispute that pension equivalent of gratuity will be recoverable from 1 - 1 - 1986. The only other question which requires determination is whether the appropriate period of service should be 30 years or 33 years. At the relevant time when each of the petitioners superannuated, the retiring age was 55 years. We are of the view that the period of qualifying service as indicated therein should therefore be 30 years." (emphasis supplied)

2. Since no reasons have been indicated as to why the Bench was of the view that the period of qualifying service should be treated as 30 years, we feel it appropriate to refer these matters to a larger Bench. Place these matters before Honb