NAJMI WAZIRI, J

1. OA No.148/2014 was filed by Assistant Registrars working on ad-hoc basis in the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, Mumbai (ITAT, Mumbai), OA No.149/2014 was filed by Senior Hindi Translator working at ITAT, Allahabad. The grievance of the applicants in OA No.148/2014 was that by the letter under challenge dated 7th March, 2013 existing vacancies in the post of Assistant Registrar were being filled by way of promotion under the existing rules, namely, the Income-Tax Appellate Tribunal (Class-I and Class-II posts) Recruitment (Amendment) Rules, 1975 (“1975 Rules” for short). The applicants in OA No.148/2014 were originally appointed on the post of Lower Division Clerk and promoted to the post of Upper Division Clerk/ Head Clerk/ Assistants and Superintendents. For convenience, we would in this appeal refer to them as UDCs.

2. To their contrary, the Hindi Translator/Senior Hindi Translators sought enforcement of appointment to the post of Assistant Registrar, as per the extant rules i.e. 1975 Rules and had filed OA No.149/2014 against the inordinate delay in hol