JUDGMENT :

1. Heard Mr. Rajesh Kumar, Mr. Ram Krishna Patel, Mr. Adarsh Singh, Mr. Om Prakash Chaube, Mr. Gorakh Yadav, Mr. Kamal Kumar Kesherwani, Mr. Chandra Sekhar Pandey, Sr. Advocate and Mr. Manoj Yadav, learned counsels appearing for petitioner and Mr. J.N. Maurya, learned Chief Standing Counsel assisted by Mr. Chandan Kumar, learned Standing Counsel appearing on behalf respondent-State.

2. The question of law required to be adjudicated upon in this bunch of petitions is as follows :

(a) Whether option pertaining to grant of death-cum-retirement gratuity explicitly given or deemed to have given in terms of statutory rule by a member of teaching staff of Intermediate College can be revised without amendment in statutory rules only on the basis of subsequent Government Orders ?

(b) Whether such revision of option can be exercised at the instance of family members of such a teacher consequent upon his demise having failed to exercise such an option during his life time ?

3. At the very outset, learned counsel for respondents have taken a plea of some of the petition's not being maintainable in terms of Chapter 22, Rule 7 of the Allahabad High Court Rules since earlier also the same p