Hari Lal Agrawal, J.

These four writ applications under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India were heard together as common questions of law and facts are involved in them. All of them are being accordingly disposed of here with. I shall indicate very briefly the facts of the petitioners in each of the writ application.

C.W.J.C. No. 2012 of 1976

2. There are 31 petitioners in this case. All of them were employed as casual labourers (Khalasi) in the Engineering Department of the North Eastern Railway under the Divisional Engineer (I), Samastipur. Their case is that they had worked for more than ten years in any event, had completed more than 120 days of continuous service and thereby were entitled to the rights and privileges provided under various provisions contained in Chapter XXV of the Indian Establishment Manual (to be referred hereinafter simply as the 'Manual'), one of them being the right to acquire the status of 'temporary employee'. The petitioners have stated that the competent authority prepared a panel of 479 employees on or about 26.9.1973 who were found suitable in the screening test of casual labourers substitutes of A.E.N. held on different dates a