JUDGMENT

Jagannadha Rao, J.-The Civil Appeal No. 913 of 1987, Special Leave Petitions Nos. 648 of 1990 & 6894 of 1994 and the Writ Petition No. 277 of 1994 are all connected and can be disposed of together. In the two Special Leave Petitions, we grant leave as the same questions arise which arise in the Civil Appeal. The Civil Appeal is filed by the Union of India represented by Secretary, Ministry of Education, Government of India and the Administrator, Union Territory of Lakshadweep, Kavaratti. There are four respondents in the said appeal and they were writ petitioners in O.P. No. 2062/80(A) filed before the Kerala High Court. They claimed that the proceedings issued by the Administrator dated 1.4.1976 re-designating them as Junior Lecturers against their original designation as Lecturers in the Jawaharlal Nehru College at Kavaratti was illegal and that they were entitled to the scale of Rs. 400-800 applicable to Lecturers rather than the scale of Rs. 350-700 which was applicable to Junior Lecturers and which scale was applicable to the Post-graduate teachers in the Secondary High School. It may be noted that the scale of Rs. 350-700 was revised by the Third Pay Commission as Rs. 550-900 w.e.f. 1.1.1973 while the scale of Rs. 400-800 was revised as Rs. 700-1300 w.e.f. 1.1.1973. The said O.P. No. 2062/80(A) filed by the said four writ petitioners was allowed by the learned Single Judge of the Kerala High Court on 10.8.1982 holding that the petitioners therein could not be equated with Post-graduate teachers in the Secondary High School (who were to be re-designated as Junior lecturers) and that they were entitled to the scale of Rs. 400-800 applicable to lecturers. After holding so, the learned Single Judge, however, directed the Union of India to "consider" the claims of the four writ petitioners in regard to the pay scales in accordance with law. Against the said judgment of the learned Single Judge, Writ Appeal No. 736 of 1982 was preferred by the Union of India and the Administrator of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep. The said appeal was dismissed by a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on 17.8.1984. It was directed that the Union of India should take a decision on a consideration of the material before it, in the light of the directions contained in the judgment in O.P. No. 2062/80(A) and that the said decision should be given within six months from the date of the receipt of the copy of the judgment. Against the said judgment of the Division Bench. Special Leave Petition was preferred by the Union of India and the Administrator, Union Territory of Lakshadweep. Leave was granted and the appeal has been registered as Civil Appeal No. 913 of 1987.

2. Certain events took place subsequent to the disposal of the Writ Appeal above-mentioned. In compliance with the directions of the learned Single Judge of the Kerala High Court, the Union of India passed orders on 11.8.1986 rejecting the contentions of the said writ petitioners and holding that they were only entitled to the pay scale of Rs. 350-700 (which was revised as Rs. 550-900 w.e.f. 1.1.1973) applicable to Post-graduate teachers and not to the pay scale of Rs. 400-800 applicable to lecturers (revised as Rs. 700-1300 w.e.f. 1.1.1973). The Union government held that the duties and responsibilities of the writ petitioners are comparable with those of counter-parts in Class XI & XII of the Senior Secondary School and that they could not be equated with the duties and responsibilities of lecturers working in the degree college run by the Union Government.

3. On the ground that Union of India in its order dated 11.8.1986 could not have gone against the findings given by the learned single Judge of the Kerala High Court in O.P No. 2062/80(A) and by the Division Bench in Writ Appeal No. 736 of 1982 as to the equation of the duties and responsibilities of the writ petitioners, namely, that they were similar to those of lecturers in degree colleges, Contempt Petition No. O.P