Koshy, J.

All these writ petitions are filed by the employees of the Kerala State Beverages Corporation Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the Corporation) for enhancing the age of superannuation. Kerala State Beverages Corporation Ltd. is a Company registered under the Companies Act and it is fully owned by the Government of Kerala. As per the Articles of Association, service conditions of the employees including retirement age can be changed only with the permission of the Government. Management and administration of the company is done by the Board of Directors of the company. Decisions of the board are not generally interfered by the Government unless it is against the policy of the Government or against the interest of the Government. Board of Directors of the company unanimously decided to increase the retirement age to 58 subject to consonance of the Government. But, the Government of Kerala refused to concur with the decision of the Board of Directors by order dated 02.7.2005 (produced as Ext.P3 in W.P.(C)No.15337 of 2006) on the ground that Government policy is against increasing the age of superannuation to 58 from the age of 55. This order is challenged in all these writ petitions.

2. There are 113 public sector undertakings owned by the Kerala Government out of which in seven undertakings like Kerala Agro Industries Corporation Ltd. etc. the retirement age of employees is 60 years. In majority of the undertakings, now the retirement age is 58 years. In Public sector undertakings of Central Government in State of Kerala the age of superannuation is 60. In Travancore Sugars & Chemicals Ltd., one of the Kerala Government company, the age of retirement is 60 and it is a sick industry. The Board of Directors decided to reduce the age to 58 as it is a sick industry, but, Government decided to roll back the retirement age to 60 years itself as can be seen from Ext.P8 in W.P.(C)No.15337 of 2006 dated 24.6.2006. However, even though in five companies the retirement age is 55 years, in majority of the public sector undertakings owned by the Kerala Government, the retirement age is 58. The retirement age of the Government employees in Kerala is only 55, but, Government employees have got various chances of promotion and they are entitled to get Government pension. Even though in five of the Government Companies the age of retirement is 55, the major Government Companies where retirement age is fixed as 55 are four in number viz., Kerala State Road Transport Corporation, Kerala State Electricity Board, Kerala Water Authority and Kerala State Housing Board. In those undertakings there is a good pension scheme. But, as far as Kerala State Beverages Corporation is concerned, there is no pension scheme. Of course, they will be entitled to some sort of contributory pension because of the pension scheme under the Employees Provident Fund Pension Scheme. But, for entitlement of full pension, they have to attain the age of 58. In another similarly placed public sector undertaking (LBS Centre), Directors decided to extend the age of retirement from 55 to 58 so as to get the pension from EPF pension scheme. Ext.P4 is produced to prove the same. In paragraph 1 of Ext.P4 it is stated as follows:

"The Director, LBS Centre for Science and Technology has reported that the center is following the EPF pension scheme and as per the EPR pension scheme 1995 a member is eligible for Superannuation after attaining the age of 58 years. Hence the Governing Body of the centre at its 19th meeting held on 22.10.2001 had decided to fix the retirement age of its members at 58 years."

The Government approved the above decision. There is no need to discriminate Beverages Corporation employees.

3. In 90% of the Government companies, where there is no pension scheme like Government, age of retirement was increased to 58 and in some Government companies retirement age is 60. Hence it cannot be contended that policy of the Government is not to increase the