JUDGMENT :

1. All these writ petitions filed under Art. 226 of the Constitution of India are concerning the right of the employees in the cotton textile industry in the local area of Mumbai to work up to the age of 63 years. These petitions are filed either by the textile mill/company or by the employees concerned challenging the orders passed by the Industrial Court constituted under the Maharashtra Recognition of Trade Unions and Prevention of Unfair Labour Practices Act, 1971 (MRTU and PULP Act, for short) on the complaints filed by these employees against these mill companies invoking items (1), (5), (9) and (10) Sch. IV of the said Act. It is therefore, that all these petitions have been directed to be heard together and are accordingly being decided together.

2. The Bombay Industrial Relations Act, 1946, governs the relationship between the employers and the employees engaged in this cotton textile industry. Under Chap. VII of this Act, Standing Orders are required to be framed governing various industrial matters mentioned in Sch. 1 to that Act. The age of retirement or su