LAKSHMANAN, CJ. - (1.) HEARD Mr. Singhvi for the petitioner and Mr. R. P. Dave for respondents No. 2 and 3. The petitioner after his retirement on 31. 12. 1988 as Dy. Registrar (Admn.) has filed this writ petition on 15. 3. 1990 to direct the respondents to fix the pay of the petitioner on the post of Addl. Registrar with effect from 30. 8. 1988 in the old pay-scale of Rs. 2750-5000 which has been given to Deputy Registrar (Judl.) and, thereafter with effect from 1. 9. 1988 in the pay-scale of Rs. 4500-5700 of the Rules of 1989 which has been given to Addl. Registrar (Judl.) with all consequential benefits. A further prayer for direction to be issued to respondents directing them to change the nomenclature and grade of the post of Deputy Registrar (Admn.) equivalent to that of Addl. Registrar (Judl.) with effect from 30. 8. 1988 has also been made.
(2.) THE petitioner entered in the service of the Rajasthan High Court in October 1951. He was promoted to the post of Deputy Registrar in officiating capacity by order dated 19. 1. 1988 (Annex. 1 ). He retired as Deputy Registrar on 31. 12. 1988. According to the petitioner there were 7 posts of Deputy Registrar in the High Court, 2 posts of Deputy Registrar has to be filled up from among the members of the Rajasthan Judicial Service of the rank of Chief Judicial Magistrate and that these posts were designated as Deputy Registrar (Judl.) and remaining 5 posts were to be manned by members of the staff of the High Court designated as Deputy Registrar (Admn. /protocol ). It is the case of the petitioner that pursuant to the judgment of this Court in the writ petition filed by Rajasthan Judicial Service Officers Assocn, the State of Rajasthan introduced following four time- scales of pay for the members of the Rajasthan Judicial Service with effect from 13. 8. 1987: (a) Ordinary Scale 1720-3350 (b) Senior Scale 2540-3900 (c) Selection Scale 2975-4700 (d) Super-time Scale 3900-5300 According to the petitioner, these scales are at par with the 4 Time Scales admissible to the members of the Rajasthan Administrative Service. Apart from the above, the members of the Rajasthan Higher Judicial Service had the following 2 Time Scales of pay with effect from 1. 9. 1986: (a) Ordinary Scale 2750-5000 (b) Selection Scale 4275-5500 In response to letter dated 4. 6. 88 of the Registrar of this Court, the State of Rajasthan vide its order No. F. 8 (ii) Jud/88 dated 21. 7. 88 conveyed sanction to change two posts of Deputy Registrar (Judl.) in the pay-scale of Rs. 2600-4150 to the pay- scale of Rs. 2750-5000 by changing the nomenclature as Additional Registrar (Judl. ). The Government revised the pay-scales of various categories of posts which included the pay-scale of Deputy Registrars of this Court. According to the petitioner, the perusal of the details furnished in the writ petition would reveal that the pay-scales of the holders of the posts of Deputy Registrar (Admn.) and Deputy Registrar (Judl.) have been the same throughout except for a brier period from 1. 4. 1974 to 1. 5. 1977 which is as under : Date Dy. Registrar (Adm.) Dy. Registrar (Judl.) Rank 1. 4. 1966 360-900 360-900 Civil Judge 1. 9. 1968 500-1000 500-1000 Civil Judge 1. 4. 1974 500-1000 800-1300 C. J. M. 1. 9. 1976 930-1500 1250-1700 C. J. M. 1. 6. 1977 1250-1700 1250-1700 C. J. M. 1. 9. 1981 1600-2325 1600-2325 C. J. M. 1. 9. 1986 2600-4150 2600-4150 C. J. M. When disparity arose between the holders of the posts of Dy. Registrar (Admn.) and Dy. Registrar (Judl.), it was brought to the notice of the then Hon'ble Chief Justice who took up the matter with the Government for keeping parity in the pay-scales of all categories of Deputy Registrars viz. , Deputy Registrar (Admn.) and Deputy Registrar (Judl.) A high-level meeting was convened by the Chief Justice on 13. 5. 1977 which was attended by the then Administrative Judge and Advisor to the Governor of Rajasthan and Law Secretary to the Government. It was agreed in the said meeting that the posts of Secretary to the Chief Justice and Deputy Registrar (Admn.) - I and II be equated with the posts of Deputy Registrar (Judl.) i. e. of the cadre of the Chief Judl. Magistrate and the posts of Asstt. Registrar be equated with the posts of Civil Judge. In pursuance of the above communication, the State of Rajasthan vide its order dated 20. 6. 77 revised the pay-scale of Deputy Registrar (Admn.) and brought it at par with the pay-scale of Deputy Registrar (Judl.) (Annex. 2 ). According to the petitioner, in view of the decision taken by the Government to keep parity in the matter of scales of pay among Deputy Registrars of this Court, there appears to be equation of the post of Deputy Registrar (Admn.) qua Deputy Registrar (Judl. ). But, discrimination was perpetuated even in the Revised Pay Scales brought into effect by the Rajasthan Civil Services (Revised Pay Scales) Rules, 1989 w. e. f. 1. 9. 1988. The following details of pay-scales revised in various categories of posts under the Rules of 1989 is extracted hereunder: RAJASTHAN HIGHER JUDICIAL SERVICE Existing Revised (a) Ordinary 2750-5000 4500-5700 (b) Selection 4275-5500 5100-6300 RAJASTHAN JUDICIAL SERVICE (a) Ordinary Scale 1720-3350 2200-4000 (b) Senior Scale 2540-3900 3000-4500 (c) Selection Scale 2975-4700 3700-5000 (d) Supertime Scale 3900-5300 4500-5700 RAJASTHAN HIGH COURT (a) Asstt. Registrars 2100-3550 2500-4250 (b) Dy. Registrars 2600-4150 3200-4625 (c) Addl. Registrars 2750-5000 4500-5700
(3.) IN view of the above revision, the petitioner made a representation on 9. 11. 1989 to respondent No. 3 for removal of the disparity in the category of Deputy Registrars in regard to pay and grade by changing the nomenclature of the posts of Deputy Registrar (Admn.) to Addl. Registrar (Admn.) with effect from the date the post of Deputy Registrar (Judl.) has been changed. On 8. 1. 90, the petitioner received a reply from respondent No. 2 that the matter was under consideration of the Government. IN the aforesaid circumstances, the writ petition was filed. Alongwith the writ petition, the petitioner placed on record Annex. 1 to 4. A reply was filed on behalf of the respondents No. 2 & 3. It is submitted that the prayer made in the writ petition is not maintainable in the changed circumstances and, therefore, is liable to be dismissed as such. It is further alleged that the petitioner is guilty of suppression of material facts inasmuch as much has been said in the writ petition about the pay-scales of various posts which are alleged to be equal to the post of Deputy Registrar (Admn.) and, at the same time, with the redesignation of the post of Deputy Registrar (Judl.) to the post of Addl. Registrar (Judl.) the petitioner is claiming re-designation of the post of Deputy Registrar (Admn.) as Addl. Registrar (Admn.) carrying the same pay-scale. According to the respondents,the petitioner in making these averments has deliberately suppressed the fact that it was not a case of mere redesignation of the post of Deputy Registrar (Judl.) as Addl. Registrar (Judl.) but, on the other hand, administrative decision was taken to upgrade the post of Deputy Registrar (Judl.) to the pos of Addl. Registrar (Judl.) and to man it by an Officer in the Rajasthan Higher Judicial Service cadre as against the post of Deputy Registrar (Judl.) which was manned by a senior-scale RJS Officer in the rank of Chief/addl. Chief Judl. Magistrate. In such circumstances, it has been prayed that the petitioner is disentitled to maintain the writ petition. On merits, it is submitted that persons manning different posts are of different qualifications and criteria and mere fact that persons occupying two posts are discharging identical duties cannot entitle them to claim identical salary. ;