The main legal principle established is the application of the doctrine of 'Equal pay for Equal work' under Article 39(d) of the Constitution and the significance of expert bodies like the Pay Anomaly Committee in addressing pay disparities.

By making this application under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner, namely, All Arunachal Pradesh Horticulture Subordinate Field Staff Association (hereinafter referred to as "AAPHEFSA") has approached this Court seeking issuance of appropriate writ / writs commanding the respondents to grant benefit of revised scale of pay at par with the similarly placed employees of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary under the Government of Arunachal Pradesh.

2. In a narrow compass, the case of the petitioner may be put as follows:

The petitioner Association is an Association comprising of the employees of the Horticulture Department under the Government of Arunachal Pradesh, the present strength of the Association being of 104 members, which include Horticultural Field Assistants, Recorder-cum-Surveyors, Village Level Workers (Senior) as well as Village Level Workers (Junior), Field Assistants, Field men and Grafters. The Association was formed, -with due intimation to the authorities of the State Government concerned, in the year 1997-98, for the purpose of protection and improvement of the service conditions including the pay and allowances of its members. The AAPHSFSA is represented in this writ petition by its president, namely, Sri Digo Ronya. The president as well as all the other members of the petitioner Association are citizens of India and as such are entitled to all the rights, privileges and protections guaranteed to the citizens of India under the Constitution of India. The Department of Horticulture and the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary were, originally, under the Department of Agriculture in the State of Arunachal Pradesh. As per the relevant Recruitment Rules published vide Notification No.Agri/E-22/73/Vol-II/22, dated 22.5.74, the qualifications required, at that point of time, for recruitment to the post of Supervisor Veterinary Field Assistant (i.e. SVFA) were same as the qualifications required for the posts of Assistant Farm Manager (Live-Stock)/Supervisor Veterinary Field Assistant, the Village Level Worker-Senior (i.e. VLW-Sr.) as per Notification No. Agri/E-22/73/Vol-n/3, dated 22.5.74. Similarly, the posts of Veterinary Field Assistant (VF A) and Village Level Worker-Junior (i.e. VLW-Jr.) were at par with each other in so far as prescribed qualifications were concerned. In the year 1976, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary was carved out of the Department of Agriculture. However, parity was maintained in so far as the prescribed qualifications and scales of pay between SVFA and VLW-Sr. as well as between VFA and VLW-Jr were concerned. This parity was maintained between the posts aforementioned on account of the fact that the nature of work and responsibilities connected with the said posts were similar. In the year 1986, the Department of Horticulture, was partially carved out of the Agriculture Department, but the Department of Horticulture, finally, came into independent existence in the year 1993. On the said Department of Horticulture becoming an independent identity, the posts of Horticulture Field Assistants (HFA)/Recorder-cum-Surveyor (RCS)/Village Level Worker-Senior were kept at par with SVFA in the Veterinary Department in so far as requisite qualifications and scales of pay were concerned. Similarly, the posts of Field Assistants/Village Level Worker-Junior as well as Field -Men/Grafter were kept at par with the VFA in the Veterinary Department. Even after the Fifth Pay Commission Report, 1996, the scale of pay for the post of SVFA in the Veterinary Department was at par with HFA/ RCS/VLW Sr. in the Horticulture Department. Similarly, parity was maintained in so far as the posts of VFS in the Veterinary Department and FM/ Grafter in the Horticulture Department were concerned. By order contained in Memo No. AHV/E-98/83, dated 13.5.99, the post of SVFA in the Veterinary Department was re-designated as Assistant Veterinarian