Judgment :- 1. Under R.60(a) of Part I of the Kerala Service Rules, the age of retirement of government servants is 55 years. Sub-rule (b) of R.60 however provides that officers who were in the 'Last Grade Service' on 7-4-1970 would retire on the last day of the month in which they attain 60 years of age. Some of the provisions of the K.S.R., including those relating to retirement age and retirement benefits, are made applicable to the teaching and non-teaching staff of aided schools, by virtue of specific provisions incorporated in the Kerala Education Rules, 1959 ("K.E.R."), The question in this writ petition is whether a peon in an aided school who was in service on 7-4-1970 could continue in service up to 60 years of age, by claiming the benefit of R.60(b) afore-noticed. 2. The petitioners are office-bearers of an organisation representing individual aided-school managements, and they have been permitted to file the petition in a representative capacity. The 3rd respondent is a peon in an aided school and was in service on 7-4-1970; and he too has been impleaded in a representative capacity. The petitioners contend that the scheme of the Education Act and the Rules is to ensure to the non-teaching staff more or less the same service conditions as are available for the teaching staff, in the matter of retirement benefits, and that in as much as the age of retirement generally fixed for aided school teachers is 55, the same should apply to all categories of non-teaching staff also. The contention of the respondents is that the so-called scheme is not so simple and straightforward, and that what is required is an examination of all the relevant rules in the K.E.R. The question seems to be a general one and of some importance. 3. The provisions of the Kerala Education Act (Act 6/59) directly dealing with the service conditions of the teaching and non-teaching staff of aided schools, are meagre. S.9 provides that Government shall pay the salary of aided school teachers direct or through the Headmaster. S.10 empowers Government to prescribe qualifications for their appointment, but under S.11. the power of appointment as such is vested in the Managers. S.12 confers power on Government to fix by rules the service conditions of aided school teachers in respect of pay, pension, provident fund, insurance and age of retirement. S.10 empowers Government to prescribe qualifications for their appointment, but under S.11. the power of appointment as such is vested in the Managers. S.12 confers power on Government to fix by rules the service conditions of aided school teachers in respect of pay, pension, provident fund, insurance and age of retirement. And S.36 authorises the Government to make rules for carrying into effect the provisions of the Act. The service conditions with which we are here concerned, like most of the other service conditions, are therefore to be found in the Rules so made. 4. Chapter XIV-A of the K.E.R, prescribes service conditions applicable to all aided school teachers in the matter of appointment, probation, retrenchment, transfer, seniority, promotion, discipline etc. Chapters XIV-B and XIV-C lay down "conduct rules" for aided school teachers, with the difference that the rules in Chapter XIV-C will apply only to teachers appointed after 1-10-64 and those others who opt to be governed by them. Grant of retirement benefits like pension and provident fund to aided school teachers is governed by Chapters XXVII-A and XXVII-B of the Rules; and here again, the difference between the two Chapters is that the rules in the latter apply to teachers appointed after 1-10-64 and others who opt for them. Chapters XXIV-A and XXIV-B deal with non-teaching staff, and the dichotomy between those appointed before 1-10-64 and afterwards is maintained in this case also, subject of course to the availability of option. And before proceeding further it is also necessary to take note of the specific averment in the Original Petition that the 3rd respondent is a peon who has opted for the rules in Chapter XXIV-B. 5. The contention of the petitioners is built up on R.4 of Chapter XXVII-B and R.8 of Chapter XXIV-B. The first of the above rules provides that "the date of compulsory retirement on superannuation applicable to teachers of Government schools shall apply to teachers of aided schools". The second reads: "8. The Rules in Chapter XXVII (B) relating to retirement benefits and Provident Fund shall mutatis mutandis apply to the non-teaching staff also who opt for these Rules and who give an undertaking as contemplated in R.2, Chapter XXVII (B)." The argument is that the rules "relating to retirement benefits" includes the rule regarding retirement age also. The second reads: "8. The Rules in Chapter XXVII (B) relating to retirement benefits and Provident Fund shall mutatis mutandis apply to the non-teaching staff also who opt for these Rules and who give an undertaking as contemplated in R.2, Chapter XXVII (B)." The argument is that the rules "relating to retirement benefits" includes the rule regarding retirement age also. Under R.4 of Chapter XXVII-B an aided school teacher's retirement age is the same as that of a Government school teacher i.e. 55 years. By reason of R.8 of Chapter XXIV-B, therefore, the retirement age of all non-teaching staff in aided schools shall also be treated as 55 years, it is contended. But as is rightly pointed out by the Government Pleader, this contention overlooks many other provisions of the Rules, and particularly the specific provision in R.5 of Chapter XXIV-B, providing that "The age of retirement on superannuation shall be the same as that of the corresponding non-teaching staff in Government schools " This is a direct provision regulating the age of retirement of non-teaching staff of aided schools opting for Chapter XXIV-B, and what it says is that it shall be the same as that of the corresponding non-teaching staff of Government schools. As there is no dispute that the 3rd respondent has opted for Chapter XXIV¬B, and that a peon in a Government school can claim the benefit of R.60(b) of Part I K.S.R. , the conclusion is irresistible that persons like the 3rd respondent here could also continue in service till 60 years of age. It is an over-simplification to say that the scheme of the Kerala Education Act and the Rules is to equate aided school teachers to Government teachers in every respect, and then to equate the non-teaching staff of aided schools to the teaching staff of such schools in respect of all retirement benefits, including age of superannuation. "Retirement benefits" in R.8 of Chapter XXIV-B is not the same thing as "age of retirement on superannuation" mentioned in R.5. The circumstance that the KER visualises two classes of aided school teachers and two classes of non-teaching staff with slightly different service conditions in the matter of conduct and retirement benefits cannot also be overlooked. 6. "Retirement benefits" in R.8 of Chapter XXIV-B is not the same thing as "age of retirement on superannuation" mentioned in R.5. The circumstance that the KER visualises two classes of aided school teachers and two classes of non-teaching staff with slightly different service conditions in the matter of conduct and retirement benefits cannot also be overlooked. 6. The assertion that there is no category known as "last grade servants" in aided schools so as to come within the fold of R.60 (b) of Part I K S.R. is also an attempt to over-simplify and by-pass the real question. Admittedly, there are peons in aided schools as there are peons in Government schools. If the latter are last grade servants entitled to continue in service up to 60 years of age, the former should also be able to claim the benefit in view of the clear language of R.5 in Chapter XXIV-B. 7. Exts. P1 to P4 annexed to the writ petition only show that there were others like the petitioners herein who were at one time prepared to overlook R.5 of Chapter XXIV-B and assume that "retirement benefits" in R.8 could be construed as including the age of retirement also. In Ext. P1 letter dated 19-2-76 Government had clarified that the age of retirement for the non-teaching staff of aided schools was the same as that of the non-teaching staff of Government schools and that peons in aided schools similarly situated like the peons in Government schools governed by R.60 (b) of Part I KSR could continue in service up to 60 years. The 2nd petitioner had made Ext. P2 representation against the aforesaid letter, and as per Ext. P4 letter dated 20-8-80 Government cancelled Ext. P1 in the following fashion: "The non-teaching staff including Peons governed by the rules in Chapter XXIV-B is eligible only for the pensionary benefits admissible under Chapter XXVII-B (vide R.8 of Chapter XXIV-B). By the operation of this rule, their service beyond the age of 55 will not count for pension unlike in the case of peons in Govt, service who are eligible for the concession contemplated in G.O. (P) 220/70/ Fin dated 7-4-70. By the operation of this rule, their service beyond the age of 55 will not count for pension unlike in the case of peons in Govt, service who are eligible for the concession contemplated in G.O. (P) 220/70/ Fin dated 7-4-70. In the above circumstances and in the light of the implications of R.2 (2) and 8 (A) of Chapter XXIV (A) Kerala Education Rules read with R.1 (ii) and 2 of Chapter XXIV (B) Kerala Education Rules, Government cancel the clarification issued in the letter cited"' But the position was re-examined immediately and Ext. P4 was cancelled by Ext. P5 on 19-12-80, with the obvious result of restoring Ext. P1. The stand taken in Ext. P4 was evidently erroneous as no advertence at all had been made to the provision in R.5 of Chapter XXIV-B directly and specifically dealing with the age of superannuation. In a sense, the attempt in this writ petition is to compel Government to stick to the erroneous stand taken in Ext. P4; and for reasons already stated, that can be done only by ignoring some of the relevant rules. The O.P. is therefore dismissed, but without any order as to costs.