JUDGMENT :

PAMIDIGHANTAM SRI NARASIMHA, J.

1.1 These appeals arise out of the decision of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh allowing the writ petition and directing the State to consider the case of the writ petitioners, Respondents no. 1 to 3 herein, for promotion under Rules that existed when the vacancies arose and not as per the subsequently amended rules. These directions were based on the decision of this Court in the case of Y.V. Rangaiah vs. J. Sreenivasa Rao, (1983) 3 SCC 284. As we noticed a number of decisions of this Court that have followed Rangaiah, and far more decisions that have distinguished it, we had to examine the issue afresh. The question is whether appointments to the public posts that fell vacant prior to the amendment of the Rules would be governed by the old Rules or the new Rules. After examining the principle in the context of the constitutional position of services under the State, and having reviewed the decisions that have followed or distinguished Rangaiah in that perspective, we have formulated the legal principles that should govern services under the State. Applying the said principles, we have held that the broad proposition formulated in Rangaia