( 1 ) PETITIONERS and private respondents 3 to 40 were in the clerical service of Central Bank of India Ltd. (hereinafter called the erstwhile bank) prior to its nationalisation under the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970 (hereinafter called the Act ). The erstwhile bank had prescribed four grades for its different categories of employees which were grades d , c , b and a After the nationalisation for the bank the grades were revised into seven and categorised as grades g , f , e , d , c b and a . Petitioners 1 to 16 were promoted to Grade f (erstwhile Grade d ) i. e. the lowest grade in the officers cardres as Junior officers/sub-Accountants. Rest of the petitioners and respondents were clerical staff. Applications were invited by the bank between 1969 to 1972 from clerical staff for undergoing six months training for the Post of Assistant Internal Auditor and Assistant Godown Inspector. First of such circular was dated 25th June, 1969. It was followed vide circulars dated 27th November, 1971, 24th August, 1972 and 16th October, 1972 respectively. One of the term of the circular was that the person found compet