Rajamannar, C.J.

This is an appeal against the judgment of Rajagopalan, J., in Writ Petition No. 255 of 1956 filed under Art. 226 of the Constitution by the appellant before us. The facts which led up to the filing of the writ petition are as follow :-

The appellant is an assistant stationmaster employed in the Southern Railways and after nationalization of the railways, all the railway servants must be deemed to have become civil servants of the Government if India. Up to 1947 almost all the railway employees were working for twelve hours a day without a weekly holiday. In that year an award was passed by the adjudicator which laid down that there should be work only for eight hours and that there should be a weekly day of rest. As a result of this award about 1, 000 new hands in the stationmasters' cadre had to be employed. To meet this immediate demand 316 persons were directly recruited as probationary stationmasters. The appellant was one of them and he was appointed as probationary stationmaster and signaller-trainee on 2 November, 1948. He was to undergo training for six months and to be posted to a working post after passing an examination, the post was to be temporary for two years and the first years of this was to be on probation. After he received the training the appellant was posted on 25 August, 1949, as relieving stationmaster. Erode, on the grade of Rs. 64 - 4 - 170. He was confirmed as assistant stationmaster with effect from 2 November, 1949. On 25 April, 1952, the Regional Traffic Superintendent (Personnel), Tiruchirappalli, issued an order directing that all directly stationmasters should be placed junior to the clerical staff who had passed their Stationmasters' examination perior to 31 March, 1951. As a result of this order he was reverted from the post of relieving stationmaster to that of a clerk-in-charge on 9 May, 1952. Consequent on this his scale of any was reduced from Rs. 64 - 4 - 170 to Rs. 60 - 4 - 150. Before reversion the appellant drew a salary of Rs. 72 a month and after reversion he could draw only Rs. 68. There were appeals by the appellant and others similarly against the above order of April, 1952. The appeals did not give the appellant and others any relief. Subsequently, however, an order was passed by the Chief Operating Superintendent, H.P.B./O.P./12 on 12 February, 1953, directing that the designation of the reverted persons including the appellant should be retained as assistant stationmaster and that their pay should be fixed in the scale of Rs. 64 - 4 - 170, but it was made clear that the seniority granted to the promoted clerks overriding the rank of directly recruited assistant stationmasters would continue. As a result of the impugned order of 25 April, 1952, it was alleged by the appellant that about 800 clerks who were till then junior to the appellant but who had passed the Stationmasters' examination before 31 March, 1951 were placed above the appellant and others like him in the seniority list. There were attempts by the appellant and others to obtain redress from the Government but their attempts were not successful. The appellant attacked the above order of the Government dated 25 April, 1952 as being a contravention of the relevant rules which resulted in the reduction of the rank which could be meted out only by way of punishment and that the statutory rules did not authorize any reduction except as and by way of punishment. The appellant, therefore, prayed for a writ of certiorari or an appropriate order quashing the said order of the Government in so far as it involved the reduction in rank of the appellant and others in the same position.Before Rajagopalan, J., who heard the petition it was contended on behalf of the appellant that the order above mentioned, dated 25 April, 1952, was in contravention of the rules governing fixation of seniority and was, therefore, invalid. The conditions of service of the railway employees like the appellant are admitted