B.N. Sapru, J. - (1.) In all these writ petitions the petitioners are the officers in the State Bank of India (hereinafter to the referred to as 'the bank') and the dispute in these cases relates to the fixation of their seniority vis-a-vis the erstwhile Grade II Officers in the Bank.
(2.) The petitioners were all selected for appointment as probationary Officers/Trainee Officers/Grade I as a result of an examination held in the year 1978 on various dates and joined either on 30-10-1979 or 1-10-1979. On the date when the petitioners joined, the conditions of service of the Officers of the Bank were governed by the State Bank of India (Supervising Staff) Service Rules (hereinafter to be referred to as 'the Rules') which came into force on 1-7-1985. These Rules were subsequently modified by the State Bank of India Officers (Determination of Terms and Conditions of Service) Order, 1979 (hereinafter to be referred to as the order). The Rules reserved the right in the Central Board to change them from time to time as provided under clause 4(1) of the rules. The Order was, therefore, made by the Bank by virtue of the powers conferred by Section 43 of the State Bank of India Act, 1955 as also clause 4(1) of the Rules.
(3.) There is no dispute between the parties that prior to the making of the order all Grade I officers were senior to every officer in Grade II. It has come in the affidavits filed on behalf of the Bank that the functions of the Officers Grade I was essentially managerial while those of the officers Grade II was essentially supervisory.;