- (1.) In Writ Petition No. l2874 of 1985 and Civil Appeal No. 4232 of 1985, a division bench consisting of Hon'ble Mr. Justice E. S. Venkataramiah and Hon'ble Mr. Justice K. N. Singh has passed the following order : "On going through a number of decisions which are cited before us, we feel that the question of seniority, raised in this case, has got to be settled by the Constitution bench finally. We, therefore, refer this case to the Constitution bench. The papers may be placed before the Hon'ble chief justice for further directions. "the' written arguments on the record would go to show that the decisions which were cited before the court by the Writ Petitioner in the aforesaid matter were: These very decisions have been cited before us and are required to be considered for the purpose of deciding the present group of matters. Since the vexed question of increase seniority between direct recruits and promotees requires to be considered in the context of the aforesaid decisions and a large number of other decisions which have been referred to the Constitution bench, it would but be proper to refer the present group of appeals and Writ Petition also to the Constitution bench for being heard along with the aforesaid Writ Petition and appeals listed for the 4/10/1988.
(2.) The correctness of the decision in Patwardhan's case, particularly in the context of the interpretation of Rules 8 (10 and 8 (2) of the Recruitment of Bombay Service of Engineers Class-1 and Class-11 (Civil) Rules framed on 29/04/1960 has been questioned by the direct recruits and in our opinion it requires to be considered by a larger bench inasmuch as Patwardhan was decided by a bench comprising of three Hon'ble Judges of this court. In Janardhana's case, the need to reconsider the earlier decisions of this court has been stressed a is reflected in the relevant observation in paragraph 38: "Though we have dwelt at some length on this aspect any enunciation of general principle on the lines indicated by us would require a reconsideration of some of the decisions of this court. "
(3.) It also involve" consideration of decisions rendered by larger benches, viz:;