Judgment

DESAI, J.:- Commissioned Officers belonging to Army Medical Corps (AMC for short), having post-graduate qualifications in different specialities at the time of obtaining commission have approached this Court under Article 32 complaining of a discriminatory treatment in the matter of granting ante-dating benefit which is directly linked to seniority and promotional prospects.

2. Petitioners in the first batch of petitions were granted commission in AMC between 1954 and 1963. Petitioner in the second petition was commissioned as a regular officer in AMC on March 15, 1970. There are in all 154 commissioned officers including the petitioners belonging to AMC who are similarly situated and who according to the petitioners suffered the same discriminatory treatment. The petition is not in a representative capacity. Petitioners assert that the decision in his group of petitions would affect roughly 147 other officers.

3. Petitioners held post-graduate qualifications in different branches of medical science and some of them held an approved wholetime appointment in a recognised civil hospital for a period of six months or more prior to their being commissioned in AMC.

4. There is a provision for giving the benefit of ante-dating the commission for varying periods, if the commissioned officer at the time of entry fulfils prescribed qualification. The earliest available reference is to Army Instruction No. 31/S/48 dated August 16, 1948 which provided as under :

"(a) An officer who has held an approved wholetime appointment in a recognised civil hospital for a period of six months or more will be eligible for an ante-date of six months.

(b) A candidate will be eligible for the grant of an ante-date not exceeding six months if he, at the time of selection, is in possession of a Post-graduate Diploma in any branch of medical science recognised by the Indian Medical Council, provided that the candidate has to attend a course of Instruction in a recognised institution for at least 9 months to qualify for such Diploma.

(c) At the time of appointment a candidate will be eligible for the grant of an ante-date not exceeding 12 months in respect of higher qualifications obtained prior to appointment. This will normally be granted for qualifications such as Doctor of Medicine, Master of Surgery, Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, Member of the Royal College of Physicians or an equivalent qualification obtained by examination from recognised Universities or Colleges.

(d) In the case of a candidate who is eligible for an ante-date under more than one of the preceding sub-paragraphs, the maximum period of ante-date will be limited to eighteen months."

It appears that prior to December 31st, 1965 maximum period of ante-dating benefit was 11/2 years which was reduced to one year from Jan. 1, 1966. It was enlarged to maximum, 2 1/2 years from April 1, 1978. Thus the period varied but the conditions for eligibility remained more or less constant.

5. By Army Instruction No. 74 of 1976, the period of ante-dating under clauses (a), (b) and (c) remained unchanged but the period under clause (d) was raised to 18 months in the aggregate.

6. By the impugned Army instruction No. 78 of 78 dated Nov. 4, 1978, a further upward revision in the period of ante-dating the commission by amending Army Instruction No. 74 of 76 was prescribed. By this amendment, the period prescribed in Cl. (a) above remained unchanged. The period of ante-dating prescribed in clause (b) was revised from 6 months to 12 months and the period of instruction was revised from 9 months to 12 months. In clause (c) the Period of 12 months was revised to 2 years and in clause (d), the aggregate was upward revised from 12 months to 21/2 years. A Note was appended to this amendment which according to the petitioners introduces the discrimination. It reads as under :

"The above provisions are effective w. e. f. 1-4-78. However, the seniority of officers who joined with PG qualifications during 11/2