Judgment

Altamas Kabir, J. —

1.Leave granted.

2.Interlocutory Application No.2 of 2006 filed by Major General S.C. Suri (Retd.) and 67 others similarly placed as the respondents is allowed.

3.Only a very limited issue falls for our consideration in this appeal which has been filed by the Union of India through the Secretary, Ministry of Defence and the Chief of Army Staff through the Adjudant General Army Headquarters, New Delhi, against the Judgment and Order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court allowing the writ petition filed by the respondents herein with the following directions :

“For the foregoing reasons, the writ petition is allowed and the respondents are directed to fix minimum pay scale of the Major General above that of the Brigadier and grant pay above that of a Brigadier as has been done in the case of post 1.1.1996 retirees and consequently fix the pension and family pension accordingly. There shall be no Order as to costs.”

4.As would be evident from the above, the primary question which falls for decision in this appeal is whether the High Court had in the exercise of its jurisdiction correctly directed that officers of the rank of Major General, who had retired prior t