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" In the present case, the controversy relates to the scale of pay admissible for Traffic Apprentices in the Railways appointed prior to the cut-off date. The controversy in its very nature is one which applies to all such employees of the Railways; it is not a controversy which is confined to some individual employees or a section of the employees. If the judgment of CAT which had taken a view contrary to the ratio laid down by judgment of the Supreme Court in M.Bhaskar case was allowed to stand then the resultant position would have been that some Traffic Apprentices who were parties in those cases would have gained an unfair and undeserved advantage over other employees who are or were holding the same post. Such an enviable position would not only have been per se discriminatory but could have resulted in a situation which would be undesirable for a cadre of large number of employees in a big establishment like that of the Indian Railways. To avoid such a situation the Supreme Court made the observations in para 17 of the judgment. The appellants' argument on the merits of the directions of the Supreme Court is not an impressing one. If some employees were unjustly and improperly granted a higher scale of pay and on that basis were given promotion to a higher post then the basis of such promotion being non-existent; the superstructure built on such foundation should not be allowed to stand. This is absolutely necessary for the sake of maintaining equality and fair play with the order similarly-placed employees. However, it will be just and fair to clarify that any amount drawn by such employees either in the basic post (Traffic Apprentice) or in a promotional post will not be required to be refunded by the employee concerned as a consequence of the judgment herein. This position also follows as a necessary corollary from the observations made in para 18 of the judgment in M. Bhaskar case."