Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan, J.

1. These writ petitions under Article 227 of the Constitution of India are by different employees under the Southern Naval Command. Since the disputes relating to all of them qua the establishment were based on a particular question of law, which tilts the scales either way, the Central Administrative Tribunal heard the original applications of all the petitioners in a consolidated manner and issued a common order. We also adopt the same procedure of consolidation for hearing, having regard to the facts, which we note hereunder.

2. All the employees involved in this bunch of litigations were imposed with penalty of reduction of pay by one stage for one year in the relevant scale of pay in respect to each of them and with a direction that the incumbent concerned will not earn increments of pay during the period of reduction and that on the expiry of that period, the reduction will have the effect of postponing the future increments of pay. The effect of that penalty operated from 1.1.2007 to 31.12.2007.

3. Later, in 2008, the pay scales were revised with retrospective effect from 1.1.2006. The establishment then took the view that whatever th