JUDGMENT :

ASHOK BHUSHAN, J.

These appeals have been filed against the Division Bench Judgment of High Court of Punjab and Haryana dated 28.07.2009 in LPA No.213 of 2007 with LPA No.177 of 2007. The High Court vide the impugned judgment has allowed the LPA filed by the State of Punjab and set aside the judgment of learned Single Judge and dismissed the writ petitions filed by the appellants before us.

2. Brief facts of the case necessary to be noted for deciding these appeals are :

i. The appellants are ex-servicemen, who after being released from the Army were appointed to Punjab Civil Service (Executive Branch). Rules were framed namely Demobilized Indian Armed Forces Personnel (Reservation of Vacancies in the Punjab Civil Service) (Executive Branch) Rules, 1972, under which Rules Twenty percent of the vacancies in the Punjab Civil Service (Executive Branch) were to be filled in by direct recruitment from amongst Released Indian Armed Forces Personnel, who joined military service or were commissioned on or after the first day of November, 1962. The vacancies existed under Rules, 1972 for direct recruitment were from 1979 to 1981.

ii. Another set of Rules were framed namely Punjab Re