K.S. Radhakrishnan, J.

The question that has come up for consideration in these cases is whether, the Governor of the State is bound to give approval when the Chief Justice of the State makes a proposal with regard to salaries, allowances, leave or pension of the staff of the High Court in exercise of the powers conferred under Art.229 of the Constitution of India.

2. The Kerala High Court Non-graduate Staff Association which represents Typists Grade II, Grade I, Senior Grade Typist, Selection Grade Typist, Office Superintendent, etc., along with a member, has filed O.P. No. 19040 of 1996 seeking parity of scale of pay and allowances which were extended to similar categories of posts in the Secretariat Vide Government order G.O. (P) No. 230/95/Fin. dated 18.3.1995.0 .P. No. 4643 of 1997 was moved by the cataloguer working in the High Court Library seeking a direction to the first respondent to fix the pay of the petitioner on the same scale as that of the cataloguer of the Legislative Library of the Kerala Legislature.

3. State Government is maintaining parity in the matter of scale of pay and allowances between the corresponding categories of staff of the High Court and that of the Secretariat for the last many years. Typists of the High Court of Kerala, all long, were having identical scale of pay and allowances and ratio for promotion between various grades in that category with those of the typists in the Secretariat. As earlier as in 1955, Government of Travancore Cochin in G.O.R. Dis. No. 30227/55/Fin. dated 7.12.1955 accepted the recommendation of the Pay Commission that the staff of the High Court should be placed in the same scales of pay as the staff of the Secretariat. This uniformity and equality in the matter of scales of pay and allowances were available not only between the typists of the Secretariat and of the High Court, but also between other categories of officers such as Assistants, Section Officers, Junior Superintendents, Assistant Registrars, etc.

4. Pay Commissions and Pay Equalization Committee have always treated the Typist and Office Superintendent of the High Court equal to the corresponding categories of posts in the Secretariat. Itis, therefore, the policy of the State Government to have uniform pay-scales for the corresponding posts in the High Court as well as in the Secretariat. The stand of the Government was reiterated in the counter affidavit filed in O.P. Nos. 2716 of 1994 and 15800 of 1993. In this connection, it is profitable to extract a portion of the counter affidavit filed in O.P. No. 15800 of 1993:

"Generally the scales of pay of the Staff of the High Court are made on comparison with a corresponding equated category of the staff in the Secretariat of the State concerned only. The orders issued by the Government have generally maintained the parity in the scales of pay for all most all categories of staff which existed prior to Revision. The Officers and servants of the HighCourt have now comparable Central Scales as in the case of the staff of the Secretariat also. In all the previous revision of pay scales and in the latest Pay Revision sanctioned from 1.3.1992, the Government had granted equal pay scales to the comparable category of staff of Public Service Commission, Government Secretariat, Advocate General's Office, Governor's Secretariat, etc., along with the staff of the High Court. All along the High Court Staff have been compared, especially with regard to pay scales only with the Secretariat staff... It has been the well established practice that the High Court staff is compared with the corresponding and equated stiff of the Secretariat. For example, the Assistants in the High Court are compared with Assistants in the Secretariat. The Section Officers are compared with Section Officers in the Secretariat. Office Superintendents are compared to the Office Superintendents in the Secretariat. Assistant Registrars are compared with the Under Secretaries in the Secretar