According to the petitioners: (i) there was no basis at all for reducing the age of retirement from 58 to 55, as nothing had happened since October 29,1979 on which date the age limit was raised from 55 to 58 years; (ii) providing employment opportunities to the youths has no relevance on the question of fixing the age of retirement; (iii) the government had exercised its power arbitrarily without having regard to factors which are relevant on the fixation of the age of retirement; (iv) the government had acted unreasonably in not giving any previous notice to the employees which would have enabled them to arrange their affairs on the eve of retirement; (v) the government was estopped from reducing the age of retirement to 55 since the employees had acted on the representations made to them in 1979 by increasing the age of retirement from 55 to 58; (vi) as a result of the increase in the age of retirement from 55 to 58 years in 1979, a vested right had accrued to the 580 employees.