1. The appellants herein, are Engineers in the service of Kerala State Electricity Board (hereinafter referred to as the "Board") and have preferred these appeals against the judgment rendered by the Division Bench of the Kerala High Court whereby, the Writ Petition and the Writ Appeal filed by the respondents were allowed and the Board was directed to refix the seniority in the light of legal position indicated therein. As a result of the said judgment, the appellants contend that they would be treated as juniors to the respondents.

2. The Board was established under S.5 of the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1949 on 7th March, 1957. Prior to 1.10.1966, 7 employees were appointed by the Board on various categories of posts like Overseer, Tracer etc. The Kerala Public Service Commission (Additional Functions) Act, 1963 (hereinafter referred to as the "Act") came into force with effect from 1.10.1966. The Act provided for exercise of certain additional functions by the Kerala Public Service Commission in respect of appointments of officers and servants of the Board and their conditions of service. During the period, 1972 to 1974, the appellants - four in number, were recruited