Judgment

DESAI, J. - With a slight variation to suit the context Wolseys prayer : "had I served my God as reverently as I did my King, I would not have fallen on these days of penury"; is chanted by petitioners in this group of petitions in the Shellian tune: I fall on the thorns of life I bleed. Old age, ebbing mental and physical prowess, atrophy of both muscle and brain powers permeating these petitions, the petitioners in the fall of life yearn for equality of treatment which is being meted out to those who are soon going to join and swell their own ranks.

2. Do pensioners entitled to receive superannuation or retiring pension under Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972 (1972 Rules for short) form a class as a whole? Is the date of retirement a relevant consideration for eligibility when a revised formula for computation of pension is ushered in and made effective from a specified date? Would differential treatment to pensioners related to the date of retirement qua the revised formula for computation of pension attract Art. 14 of the Constitution and the element of discrimination liable to be declared unconstitutional as being violative of Art. 14? These and the related q