S.C. Dharmadhikari, J.

1. By this writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner-Association and its office bearers are seeking the following reliefs :-

(a) this Hon'ble Court be pleased to issue a Writ of Certiorari or any such other appropriate writ, order or direction calling for the records relating to the issuance of the OM dated 21.1.2002 and the actions taken in pursuance to OM dated 21.1.2002, this Hon'ble Court be pleased to quash and set aside the OM dated 21.1.2002 being “Ex A1” hererto;

(b) this Hon'ble Court by a writ of Mandamus or any such other appropriate writ, order or direction, be pleased to quash and set aside letter at Ex F and all the actions taken as per OM dated 21.1.2002 or otherwise including promotions and fixation of seniority being against judgment at Ex A2 and illegal, erroneous, bad-in-law and arbitrary;

(c) that this Hon'ble Court be pleased to issue Writ of Mandamus directing the Respondents to recalculate seniority and effect promotions as per OMs dated 30.1.1997 and 2.7.1997 being Ex “J” and Ex “K” hereto;”

2. The petitioners have stated in the writ petition that their Association protects and safeguards the rights of non- Scheduled Caste and non-Scheduled Tribe employees of the Board of Trustees of the Mumbai Port Trust (for short “MPT employees”). It is stated that the first respondent is a State within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution of India. The second respondent, Chairman of the said MPT as also the Port Trust complies with certain policies, rules and regulations which are brought into force by the Union of India/Central Government, particularly through its Ministry of Shipping and Transport and the Department of Personnel, Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Government of India. The latter Ministry evaluates and formulates the policies particularly of reserving certain posts for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes popularly known as the constitutional reservations.

3. The respondent Nos.5 and 6 represent the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, so also Other Backward Classes employees and try and protect their welfare and interests. They came to be impleaded as party-respondents on the applications made in that behalf by these respondents.

4. The petitioners state that by the Seventy Eight and Eighty-Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of India, Articles 16(4-A) and 16(4-B) were inserted enabling the State to make provision for reservation in matters of promotion with consequential seniority to any class or classes, particularly the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and which, in the opinion of the State, are not adequately represented.

5. It is stated that pursuant to this constitutional amendment, an Office Memorandum (for short “OM”) came to be issued by the fourth respondent and copy of the same is annexed to the writ petition as Annexure A-1.

6. It is stated that the OM dated 3rd October, 2000 and 21st January, 2000 alongwith newly introduced Articles in the constitution were challenged, inter alia, by the petitioners in the Hon'ble Supreme Court by Writ Petition No. 440 of 2002. That was clubbed alongwith other petitions, particularly Writ Petition No.61 of 2002 and 58 others. On this batch of petitions, a Constitution Bench judgment came to be delivered. That judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court is in the case of M. Nagaraj & Ors. vs. Union of India & Ors., reported in (2008) 8 SCC 212. We shall refer to this judgment for short as M. Nagaraj's case.

7. The petitioners highlight the conclusions in this Constitution Bench judgment in M. Nagaraj's case to submit that effect has to be given to it inasmuch as if in promotions reservations are made by the concerned PSU/authorities like MPT without application of mind and without carrying out the exercise directed under the judgment, then, those actions have to be quashed and set aside or revisited. The petitioners state that on 21