Judgment

KOSHAL, J.:- By this judgement we shall dispose of 42 appeals by special leave, namely, Civil Appeals Nos. 2329 to 2370 of 1977, all of which are directed against a judgement dated the 30th November, 1976 of a Division Bench of the High Court of Karnataka. Civil Appeals Nos. 2329 and 2351 to 2370 of 1977 have been filed by different persons who were appointed Assistant Engineers in the Karnataka State on 31st October, 1961, by way of direct recruitment while the other 21 appeals have been filed by that State.

2. The facts giving rise to the impugned judgement may be set down in some detail. A new State came into existence on the 1st of November, 1956 as a result of integration of the areas which formed part of the erstwhile States of Mysore, Madras, Coorg, Bombay and Hyderabad (hereinafter referred to as the Merged States). It was then given the name of one of its constituents namely, the State of Mysore, which was later changed to that of the Karnataka State. In the Public Works Departments of the Merged States there was a class of non-gazetted officers ranking below Assistant Engineers. The class was designated as Graduate Supervisor in the Merged State of Mysore, as Junio