B.N. Sapru, Ravi S. Dhavan, J. - (1.) The issue in the present petition is parity of higher grade scale of pay and special pay denied to the employees of the establishment of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad and its Bench at Lucknow. In fact, this is not a matter which should have been made an issue at the Bar of the High Court as it is essentially one of administration.
(2.) Equality and parity of pay as the State of Utter Pradesh has granted to the employees of the Secretariat at Lucknow is the issue raised by the petitioners and all employees of the High Court. A reading of the writ petition, to which a counter affidavit has not been filed by the State of Uttar Pradesh or the Registrar, High Court, conveys to the Court an impression that unless one seeks equality of employments and service conditions, given an occasion the State Government, would deny the standardised pay packet to all the employees in various establishments of the State Government. In the petition a history of systematic denial of parity of pay to the employees of the High Court in contrast to those of the Secretariat has been set on record. Time after time the employees of the High Court had to raise a demand to seek equality of pay and allowance with their counter parts at the Secretariat and it is only when the grievance on this discrimination was voiced, that the principles of equality of pay was accepted twenty years ago. In brief, the petitioners set on record that it took deliberations through Commissions and parleys with the State Government and succeeding Chief Justices that pay and allowances of the employees of the High Court must be at par with those of Secretariat.
(3.) It is, as if, as a gesture of grace that the State Government accepted the demand of the employees of the High Court to grant them parity of pay scales and other allowances with the corresponding employees of the Uttar Pradesh Secretariat. This principle was settled between the State Government and the High Court two decades ago when apparently the State Government accepted the demand of the employees of the High Court and issued a Government Order No. 302/Seven - Ka - 1 - 263/65 - Nyaya - Ka - 1/Vibhag dated 20 March, 1968. Thus, the issue that the employees of the High Court would receive the same pay and emoluments and allowances as their counter - parts at the Secretariat ceased to be an issue. Thereafter, the employees of the High Court were at peace that parity having been brought about between them, the irritant of discrimination in public employment, had ceased.;