1. - All these petitions have been filed for seeking direction to pay the minimum of the pay scale of Class IV employees and treat the petitioners as regular/permanent employees of the Department and further to quash Clauses 3 to 13 contained in the Agreement of their appointment. All the three petitions are identical involving the same question of law, thus, the same are disposed of by the common judgment treating Writ Petition No. 573/1998 as a leading case.

2. The facts and circumstances giving rise to this case are that petitioners had been employees of the Rajasthan Small Industries Ors. Limited and as the units where petitioners had been working, were closed, their services were terminated after complying with the provisions of Section 25-F of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 and all of them were paid the retrenchment allowances as provided under the Act. Large number of persons like petitioners were given an option of voluntary retirement and some of them had opted it and, thus, those who did not opt, stood retrenched. Petitioners preferred S.B.C.W.P. No. 186/1995, Rajasthan Laghu Udyog Spinning Mills Workers Union, Ladnu Vs. State of Rajasthan & Ors. , seeking the