Holding

High Courts and Administrative Tribunals cannot issue binding directions to the executive to frame or amend statutory service rules; their observations are advisory and cannot override the executive's legislative power under Article 309.

Summary

The case concerned whether a High Court or an Administrative Tribunal could compel the State of Andhra Pradesh to amend the Andhra Pradesh Animal Husbandry Service‑Special Rules, 1977, which governed promotions of Veterinary Assistant Surgeons. Petitioners sought to have promotions made solely on seniority, challenging the category‑wise promotion scheme as violative of Articles 14 and 16. The High Court had earlier made advisory observations, and the Tribunal issued binding‑looking directions to the State to revise the rules. The Supreme Court held that such observations were merely advisory, and that under Article 309 the power to make or amend service rules is a legislative function of the executive, not subject to judicial direction. Consequently, the Tribunal’s directions were set aside, the representation petition dismissed, and the appeals allowed.

Issues considered

Can a High Court or Administrative Tribunal direct a State Government to frame or amend statutory service rules affecting conditions of service under Article 309?
Whether promotions in a feeder cadre can be restricted to specialty categories irrespective of seniority.

Legislation cited

Constitution of Indias. Article 14, s. Article 16, s. Article 226, s. Article 309

Subjects

Article 309Article 226judicial reviewrule making powerservice conditionspromotionseniorityadministrative tribunalhigh courtconstitutional lawpublic servicedirectiveadvisory opinion

Judgment

MALLIKARJUNA RAO AND ORS. ETC. ETC.
A
v.
STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH AND ORS. ETC. ETC.

APRIL 10, 1990

B [KULDIP SINGH AND S.C. AGRAWAL, JJ.]

Andhra Pradesh Animal Husbandry Service-Special Rules,
1977-Rule I. Constitution of India-Article 226-Can the High Court/
Administrative Tribunal direct the State Government to frame or amend
~
c
the statutory rules affecting condition of service in terms of its directions.

Andhra Pradesh Animal Husbandry Service Rules, 1961, gover-
.
ned the conditions of service of the Andhra Pradesh Animal Husbandry
Department and under those Rules Veterinary Assistant Surgeons were
eligible for promotion to three categories of Class IV posts. Rule 6 of
the said Rules provided special eligibility qualifications for those posts
D and only those Veterinary Assistant Surgeons were considered for --"
promotion to Class IV posts who fulf"tlled the qualifications/specialised
training prescribed under Rule 6 of the 1961 Rules. Some of the Veteri-
nary Assistant Surgeons challenged the vires of Rule 6 of 1961 Rules on
the ground that it was violative of Article 14 of the Constitution
inasmuch as it conferred arbitrary powers on the Government to pick
E and choose any person for the specialised training and may deny such
an opportunity to another person who may be equally or better suited /
for such training, there being no guidelines prescribed for selection of --'
persons for specialised training. The main contention was that at the
time of recruitment all the Veterinary Assistant Surgeons ,>ossessed
Bachelor Degree in Veterinary Science and the special qualification and
F training prescribed under Rule 6 could only be acquired after joining as
Veterinary Assistant Surgeon by only those Assistant Surgeons whom
the Government selected for the purpose.

The High Court held Rule 6 of the 196 l Rules as intra vires but ....(
made certain observations advising the Animal Husbandry Department
G to frame a rule for the said Department and see that as far as possible
the area of discretion on the part of the authorities concerned is reduced
if not eliminated altogether, so far as the question of imparting
specialised training as provided under Rule 6 was concerned. There-
upon the State Government amended Rule 6 of the 1961 Rules as a
result whereof the 1961 Rules were superseded by the Andhra Pradesh .,..
H Animal Husbandry Service-Special Rules, 1977, Rule 1 whereof pro-

418
M. RAO v. STATE OF A.P. 419

vided for the constitution of the service. Class IV posts, which were A
re-designated as Assistant Directors, were divided into eight cat~ories
-y and Rule 2 provided method of promotion from Class V to Class IV.
Uoder those Rules Veterinary Assistant Surgeons who were Class V
were only eligible for promotion to Class IV in their respective
categories. That is to say category 1 Class V was only eligible for promo-
tion to category 1 Class IV and similarly category 2 of Class V was
eligible for category 2 of Class IV aud so on, and in this way common
seniority of class V officers became irrelevant, promotion being
~ category-wise. Being dissatisfied some officers belonging to Class IV
filed Representation Petition before the Andhra Pradesh Administra-
4 tive Tribunal seeking a direction that the special rules be amended or
modified in terms of the observations made by the Andhra Pradesh c
High Court in Civil Writ No. 4532 of 1971, referred to above whereby
the said High Court had declared Rule 6 of 1961 Rules as intra vires.
The contention raised by the petitioner was that promotions from Class
·"°'·V to Class IV be made on the basis of seniority alone irrespective of the
categories contemplated by 1977 Rules. The Tribunal by its judgment
allowed the petition and issued the directions asked for by the petition- D
ers. The Tribunal observed that not to speak of direction, even an
observation from the High Court was binding on the State Government
when the State Government had not chosen to get the said observation
set aside by the Supreme Court. Accordingly the Tribunal directed the
State to evolve a proper and rational method of determination of senio-
\.._ rity among the Veterinary Assistant Surgeons in the matter of promo- E
tions to the next higher rank of Assistant Director of Veterinary
Surgeons.

Being aggrieved, the State of Andhra Pradesh and some of the
officers who have been affected by the High Court's judgment and who
were not parties before the High Court have filed these appeals. F

The following questions arose for determination: (1) can the High
Court/Administrative Tribunal direct the State Government to frame or
amend the existing statutory Rules to alter the conditions of service of
the Civil servants in terms of the directions, and (2) when there are
specialized posts in a feeder cadre and also in the higher cadre, can the G
Government restrict the promotions from feeder cadre to the higher
cadre only speciality wise irrespective of seniority.

Allowing the Appeals and remanding the matter to the Tribunal
for decision on other points: this Court,
H
420 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1990] 2 S.C.R.

A HELD: The observations of the High Court which have been
made as the basis fot_its judgment by the Tribunal were only of advisory
nature. The High Cimrt was aware of its limitations under Article 226
of the Constitution of India and as such the learned Judge deliberately
used the words 'advisable' w!iile making the observations. It is neither
B legal nor proper for the High Courts or the Administrative Tribunals to
issue directions or advisory'-sermons to the executive in respect of the
sphere which is exclusively within the domain of the executive under the
Constitution. [428E-F]

The power under Article 309 of the Constitution of India to frame
rules is l<egislative power. This power under the Constitution has to be •
C exercised by the President or the Governor of a State as the case may
be. [429C]

The High Court or the Administrative Tribunals cannot issue a
mandate to the State Government to legislate under Article 309 of the ./.
Constitution of India. The Courts cannot usurp the functions assigned
D to the e•ecutive under the Constitution and cannot even indirectly
require the executive to exercise its rule making power in any manner.
The Courts cannot assume to itself a supervisory role over the rule
making power of the executive under Article 309. [4290-E]

The Administrative Tribunal in the judgment under appeal trans-
,E · gressed its limits in issuing the impugned directions. [429F] __} -

Narender Chand Hem Raj & Ors. v. Lt. Governor, Union Terri-
tory, Himachal Pradesh & Ors., [1972] 1 SCR 940; State of Himachal
Pradesh v. A parent of a student of medical college, Simla & Ors.,
[1985] 3 S.C.C. 169 and Asif Hameed & Ors. v. State of Jammu & i•
F Kashmir & Ors., [1989] Supp. 2 S.C.C. 364, referred to.

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 3677 ....(
of 1987.

From the Judgment and O_rder dated 4.7.1985 of the Andhra
Pradesh Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad in Representation Peti-
tion No. 578 of 1978.

WITH

Civil Appeal Nos. \1519/1985-and 124/1981.
H
M. RAO v. STATE OF A.P. [KULDJP SINGH, J.] 421

P.P. Rao, G.L.Sanghi, R.K. Jain, P. Rama Reddy, P.A.
Choudhary, B. Kanta Rao, Mrs. S.R. Setia, G.N. Rao, Attar Singh, A
K.V.G. Rama Rao, Mrs. Sharda Devi, K. Ram Kumar, C.S. Vai-
dyanathan, A.V.V. Nair and C. Prabhakar for the appearing parties.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
B
KULDIP SINGH, J. The questions arising for our consideration
in these appeals are as under:

( 1) Can the High Court/Administrative Tnbunal direct the State
Government to frame or amend the existing statutory rules to
alter the conditions of service of the civil servants in tenns of the
directions? c

(2) When there are specialised posts in a feeder cadre and also in
the higher cadre, can the Government restrict the promotions
from feeder cadre to the higher cadre only speciality-wise
irrespective of the seniority? D

The conditions of service of the Andhra Pradesh Animal
Husbandry Department were initially gqverned by the Andhra
Pradesh Animal Husbandry Service Rules, 1961 (hereinafter called
1961 Rules). Under these Rules Veterinary Assistant Surgeons were
~ _ eligible for promotion to three different categories of posts called class E
IV posts and Rule 6 provided special eligibility qualifications for those
posts. Only those Veterinary Assistant Surgeons were considered for
promotion to class IV posts who fulfilled the qualifications/specialised
training prescribed under Rule 6 of the 1961 Rules.

Some of the Veterinary Assistant Surgeons challenged the vires F
of Rule 6 of the 1961 Rules by way of <;;ivil Writ Petition No. 453Z of
).. 1971 in the Andhra Pradesh High Court. It was alleged that at the time
of recruitment all the Veterinary Assistant Surgeons possessed
Bachelor Degree in Veterinary Science and the special qualifications
and training prescribed under Rule 6 could only be acquired after
joining as Veterinary Assistant Surgeon and that also at the discretion G
of the Government. It was open to the Government to choose any
person for the specialised training and may deny such an opportunity
to another person who may be equally or better suited for such train-
ing. Since the imparting of specialised qualifictions/training was under
the control of the Government it could pick and choose persons for the
purpose and in the process making favoured persons eligible for pro- H
422 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1990] 2 S.C.R.

A motion to class IV posts under the 1961 Rules. Learned Single Judge
by his judgment dated August 24, 1973 rejected the contentions of the
writ petitioners in the following words:

"I do not find it possible to agree with the broad contention
that Rule 6 is ultra vires and unconstitutional for the
8 reasons stated by the petitioners. As stated earlier, Rule 6
merely prescribed certain qualifications for promotion to
certain posts by way of experience in a particular specia-
lised service of undergoing training in a particular field. It
cannot be argued and in fairness to the learned counsel for
the petitioners it may be stated, it was not argued, that is
' not permissible to prescribe such qualifications. The main
c reason for contending that Rule 6 is ultra vires was not that
it prescribed certain qualifications but because in the
absence of any guiding principles the Government would
be enable to pick and choose persons who would be given
opportunities to obtain those qualifications which would
D enable them to get promotion. This circumstance cannot in
my view render the rule itself ultra vires. If the Govern-
ment or the Authorities concerned posted certain emp-
loyees in the special sections or gave them opportunity to
undergo a service in a special issued section for a particular
period or denied similar opportunity to deserving candi-
E dates with the oblique motive of preferring one set of . _.;·
persons to another for the purposes of promotion, it was
open to the aggrieve officer to challenge the act of the
Government in each particular case. The postings and
directions have been made from time to time from 1962 and
none of these petitioners approached this court questioning
F the denial of the posting as the case may be all these
years." .....

"I therefore see no reason for declaring Rule 6 as ultra vires
and unconstitutional."

G While holding that Rule 6 was intra vires, the learned Judge also made
the following observations:

"Though I have held that Rule 6 is not unconstitutional
there cannot be any doubt that as this stand at present, it is
left to the discretion of the authorities concerned to post
Ii any particular Veterinary Surgeon to any Special Section or
M. RAO v. STATE OF A.P. [KULDIP SINGH, J.J 423

to give him training in any advanced course. It is not
A
surprising that such a state of affairs should result in
dis-satisfaction and suspicion in the mind of the officers
concerned. Development of animal husbandry is extremely
important in the interests of economy and a satisfied and
contented service is a pre-requisite for such development.
It is not advisable to it that a particular authority however B
high placed he may be to choose persons at his sweet will
and pleasure to undergo training in a particular field or
have service in a particular sections especially when such
training and service would effect the chances of promotion
to higher posts. In this connected, it may be noted that in
regard to the Andhra Pradesh Agricultural Service, it W!!S
realised that condition of separate section within the same
c
service results in great in justice as several senior officers
would be deprived of their promotion while the junior who
happened to work in a specialised section get early promo-
tion. By G.O. dated 27.6.1972 all these sections were
merged into one unit and all the posts were brought under a D
common set of rules. It would be advisable to frame a
similar rule for the Animal Husbandry Department also
and see that as far as possible the area of discretion on the
part of the authorities concerned is reduced if not elimina-
ted altogether."
E
The State Government amended Rule 6 of the 1961 Rules on
May 10, 1976 by which the categories of Class IV posts were increased
to thirteen. The 1961 Rules were superseded by the Andhra Pradesh
Animal Husbandary Service-Special Rules, 1977 (hereinafter called
the Special Rules) which came into force on September 24, 1977. Rule
1 of the Special Rules provides for the constitution of the service. Class F
IV posts, which ivere re-designated_ as Assistant Directors, ,were
divided into eight categories. Similarly, Veterinary Assistant Surgeons
come under the heading class V and are divided into seven categories.
Rule 2 of the Special Rules provides method of promotion from class·
V to Class IV. The relevant provisions of these Rules are reproduced

- as under:

1. CONSTITUTION:
G

T ClassIV.

Category ( 1) Assistant Directors of Animal Husbandry (formerly H
424 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [ 1990) 2 S.C.R.

District Veterinary Officers & Livestock Officers
A lncharge Key Villages and Regional Cattle Develop-
ment Units) including Superintendents, Veterinary
Hospitals & Poly Clincis, Assistant Directors of
Animal Husbandry, Liverfluke Control Scheme; Anti
Liverfluke Control Scheme; Dairy Extension Rinder-
B pest; Animal By-Products Plant, Zoo Park, Asst.
Director of Animal Husbandry (Technical in Directo-
rate and Gazetted Instructors in Animal Husbandry,
Village Development Officers Training Centre.

Category (2) Assistant Directors of Animal Husbandry, Govern-
ment Livestock Farms including Assistant Directors of
c Animal Husbandry Progeny Testing Unit, Feed Mixing
Plant; Livestock Assistants Training Centre; Goshalas
and Asst. Director of Animal Husbandry (Farms) in
Directorate.

D Category (3) Lecturers, Institute of Animal Reproduction, includ-
ing Asst. Director of Animal Husbandry (Cattle
Development) and Centralised Semen Collection
Centre.

Category (4) Assistant Directors of Animal Husbandry, Sheep
E Farms including Assistant Directors of Animal Hus- __..,/
bandry (Sheep Development) and Officers of similar
rank in Sheep Section.

Category (5) Assistant Directors of Animal Husbandry, Pig Breed-
ing Station; Piggery Development Officer and Officers ··"'
F of similar rank in piggery section.

Category ( 6) Asst. Directors of Animal Husbandry, Regional ....i\
Poultry Demonstration and Research Farm and Asst.
Directors of Animal Husbandry, poultry Marketing
Centres.

Category (7) Asst. Directors of Animal Husbandry (Formerly Dis-
ease Investigation Officers and Research Officers) and
Officers of similar rank in Vety. Biological Institute,
Hyderabad; Asst. Directors of Animal Husbandry,
Animal Health Centres, and·Officers of similar rank in
.H Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad such as Public
fiealth Veterinarian.
M. RAO v. STATE OF A.P. [KULDIP SINGH, J.] 425

Category (8) Asst. Director of Animal Husbandry (Statistics) A
--y ClassV.

Category (1) Veterinary Officers.

Category (2) Veterinary Officers (Cattle Farms) B

Category (3) Asst. Lecturers, Institute of Animal Reproduction and
Veterinary Officers, Centralised Semen Collection
Centres.

Category (4) Veterinary Officers (Sheep Farms)
c
Category (5) Veterinary Officers, Pig Breeding Stations.

·-.. Category (6) Veterinary Officers, Poultry Farms.

Category (7) Veterinary Officers in Veterinary Biological and D
Research Institute; Animal Health Centres, Clinical
Laboratories and Municipal Corporation of Hydera-
bad."
2. APPOINTMENT:
~ . Class IV: E

Category (1) Asst. Directors of . . . (i)
(ii) by promotion from
among the Veterinary
inclnded in category (I)
of class V of the F
said service.
(iii)
Category (2) Asst. Directors of . . . (i)
(ii) by promotion from G
among the Vety.
Officers included
in Cat. (2) of Class
Vofthe said
Service
(iii) H
426 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1990] 2 S.C.R.

Category (3) Lecturers ... (i)
A
(ii) by promotion from ,.
among the Vety. y
Officers included in
Cat. (3) of Class V of
the said service
B
- (iii)
Category ( 4) Asst. Directors of ... (i)
(ii) by promotion from ~

c
among the Vety.
Officers included in
category 4 of class V of
•
the_said service
(iii)
Category (5) Asst. Directors of ... (i) -- _ /
(ii) by promotion from
D among the Vety.
Officers included in cat.
(5) of class V of
the said service
(iii)

B Category (6) Asst. Directors of ... (i) -~ -
(ii) by promotion from
among the Vety.
Officers included in cat.
(6) of class V of
the said service
F
Asst. Directors of ...
(iii)
(i)
'
Category (7)
(ii) by promotion from .....(
among the veterinary
Officers included in cat.
(7) of class V cif the
said service
(ill) .. .
;

Category (8) Asst. Directors of ... (i)
(ii) by promotion from the
Veterinary Officers in
H Class V of Andhra _
M. RAO v. STATE OF A.P. [KULDIP SINGH, J.] 427

Pradesh Animal Hus-
A
bandry Service
(iii)

It is obvious from the provisions of the Special Rules reproduced
above that the Veterinary Assistant Surgeons who are class V are only
eligible for promotion to class IV in their respective categories. Cate- B
gory 1 class V is only eligible for promotion to category 1 class IV and
similarly category 2 of class V is eligible for category 2 of class IV and
so on. Although there is one common seniority of class V officers but
the promotion being category-wise the seniority becomes irrelevant as
a senior man in category 1 class V cannot be promoted to any other
category in class IV except category 1 and 8.
c
M. Srinivasan and 44 other class V officers filed Representation
Petition No. 578 of 1978 before the Andhra Pradesh Administrative
Tribunal seeking a direction that the Special Rules be amended or
modified in terms of the observations made by the Andhra Pradesh
High Court in Civil Writ Petition No. 4532 of 1971. In other words, it D
was prayed that the State Government be directed to merge all the
respective categories in class IV and class V of the Special Rules and
promotions from class V to class IV be made on the basis of seniority
alone. The Administrative Tribunal by its judgment dated July 4, 1985
allowed the Petition and issued the directions asked for by the
~ petitioners. The Tribunal in its judgment posed the question to be E
decided in the following manner:

"The question to be decided is whether the Depart-
ment of Animal Husbandry is justified in not following the
directions of the A.P. High Court referred to above."
F
, The Tribunal then answered the question as under:
).
"It must be observed that not to speak of direction,
even an observation from the High Court of the land is
binding on the State Government when the State Govern-
ment has not choosen to set aside the said observation in G
the Supreme Court.

The petitioners are, therefore, entitled to the relief
T asked for and I find no good reasons not to grant the same.
The R.P., is accordingly allowed and once again directions
are issued to the respondents to evolve proper and rational H
428 SUPREME COURT REPORTS I1990] 2 S.C.R.
method of determination of seniority among the Veteri-
A nary Assistant Surgeons in the matter of promotions to the
next higher rank of Assistant Director of Veterinary Sur-
geons in the light of the one framed under G.O.Ms. No. I
supra."

It may be mentioned that G.O. Ms. No. 1dated1.1.76 which was
directed to be adopted and followed in the Animal Husbandry Depart-
ment related to the Agriculture Department. It was argued before the
Tribunal that because of functional differences between the two
departments it would not be possible to adopt the conditions of service
prevalent in the Agriculture Department. The Tribunal, however,
issued the above quoted directions primarily on the ground that the
•
c State Government was bound to follow the observations of the High
Court made in Civil Writ Petition No. 4532 of 1971.

The State of Andhra Pradesh has challenged the judgment of the
Tribunal in Civil Appeal No. 1519 of 1986, Civil Appeal No. 124/1987
D and Civil Appeal No. 3677 of 1987 have been filed by the officers who
have been affected by the judgment of the Tribunal but were not
parties before the Tribunal.

The observations of the High Court which have been made as
the basis for its judgment by the Tribunal were only of advisory
E nature. The High Court was aware of its limitations under Article 226
of the Constitution of India and as such the learned Judge deliberately
used the word "advisable" while making the observations. It is neither
legal nor proper for the High Courts or the Administrative Tribunals
to issue directions or advisory-sermons to the executive in respect of -.
the sphere which is exclusively within the domain of the executive
F under the constitution. Imagine the executive advising the judiciary in
respect of its power of judicial review under the constitution. We are
bound to react scowlingly to any such advice.

This Court relying on Narender Chand Hem Raj & Ors. v. Lt.
Governor, Union Territory, Himachal Pradesh & Ors., [1972) I SCR
G 940 and State of Himachal Pradesh v. A parent of a student of medical
college, Simla and Ors., [1985] 3 SCC 169 held in Asif Hameed & Ors.
v. State of Jammu & Kashmir & Ors., [1989) Supp. 2 SCC 364, as
under:

"When a State action is challenged, the function of
H the court is to examine the action in accordance with law
M. RAO v. STATE OF A.P. [KULDIP SINGH, J.) 429

and to determine whether the legislature or the executive
has acted within the powers and functions assigned under A
the i:onsitution and if not, the court must strike-down the
action. While doing so the court must remain within its
self-imposed limits. The court sits in judgment on the
action of a coordinate branch of the Government. While
exercising power .of judicial review of administrative B
action, the court is not an appellate authority. The con-
stitution does not permit the court to direct or advise the
.., executive in matters of policy or to sermonize qua any mat-
ter which under the constitution lies within· the sphere of
legislature or executive."

The Special Rules have been framed under Article 309 of the c
Constitution of India. The power under Article 309 of the Constitution
of India to frame rules is the legislative power. This power under the
constitution has to be exercised by the President or the Governor of a
State as the case may be. The High Courts or the Administrative
Tribunals cannot issue a mandate to the State Government to legislate D
under Article 309 of the Constitution of India. The Courts cannot
usurp the functions assigned to the executive under the constitution
and cannot even indirectly require the executive to exercise its rule
making power in any manner. The Courts cannot assume to itself a
supervisory role over the rule making power of the executive under
> Article 309 of the :Constitution of India. E

We are therefore, of the view that the High Court in Civil Writ
Petition No. 4532/71 and the Administrative Tribunal in the judgment
under appeal transgressed its limits in issuing the impugned directions.
~ We set aside the judgment of the Tribunal and dismiss the Representa-
tion Petition No. 578/78 filed by M. Srinivasan and 44 others to the F
extent indicated above.

Mr. C.S. Vaidyanathan, learned counsel, appearing for the re-
spondents, however, contends that the Special Rules are arbitrary and
are violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India. He
contends that at the time of initial recruitment to Class V the Govern- G
ment at its discretion picks-up persons for appointment to any of the
categories. According to him neither there are any statutory rules or
executive instructions providing options to class V officers to join
T category of their choice nor in fact any such options were given at the
relevant time. He has further argued that the posts in seven categories
of class V are inter-transferable. He invited our attention to the docu- fi
430 SUPREME COURT REPORTS· [1990] 2 S.C.R.

A men ts on record showing transfers from one category to another. Mr.
Madhava Reddy learned counsel appearing for the State of Andhra
Pradesh on the other hand has controverted the above arguments.
· · According to him options were not only given at the time of initial
recruitment into class V service but also subsequently as and when the
rules were amended. He categorically denied that the posts iii various
B categories are interchangeable. The learned counsel on both s~es
wanted us to go into the various documents in support of their respec-
tive contentions •. We do not have before us the factual-matrix to
appreciate the argument of Mr. Vaidyanathan that the special Rules
are arbitrary. We, however; find from the judgment under appeal that
all these points were raised before the Tribunal in one form or the
C other but the Tribunal based its judgment on the observations of the
High Court in Civil Writ Petition No. 4532nI and did not go into any
other point.

While setting aside the judgment under appeal we remit the case
to the Andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunal for decision on other
D/ points as indicated hi- us or as may be raised by the parties. The
Tribunal shall give further opportunity to the parties to file additional
affidavits/documents. We request the Tribtinal to decide the matter
expeditiously and if possible within three_.months. The appeals are
disposed of in the above terms with no order as to costs.

Y. Lal Appeals allowed.

---~d -

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