JUDGMENT

Indu Malhotra, J.

Leave granted.

1. The present Civil Appeal arises out of S.L.P. (C) No. 4652 of 2018 wherein the impugned Judgment and Order dated January 13, 2016 passed by the Bombay High Court in Writ Petition No. 2704 of 2005 has been challenged.

2. The facts relevant for the present Civil Appeal, are briefly set out below:

2.1. The Appellants were erstwhile employees in the Overseas Communications Service ["OCS"], a Department of the Government of India. On April 1, 1986 the OCS was converted into a Government Company known as the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited ["VSNL"]. Initially, all employees of the erstwhile OCS were transferred en masse to Respondent No. 4 - VSNL (now known as Tata Communications Limited), where they worked on deputation from April 1, 1986 to January 1, 1990.

2.2. On July 5, 1989 the Department of Pension and Pension Welfare of the Government of India issued Office Memorandum No. 4/18/87-P & P.W. (D) ["Office Memorandum"] specifying the terms and conditions governing the pensionary benefits of employees who were transferred en masse on the conversion of a Government Department into a Central Public Sector Undertaking or Autonomous Body.

The relevant ext