The Government has an obligation to extend parity in pay scales to employees based on the recommendations of pay revisions, and subsequent restructuring of pay scales should not affect the applicability of the recommended pay scales.

JUDGMENT :

A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar, J.

The State of Kerala, represented by the Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department and the Secretary, Finance Department are the appellants herein aggrieved by the judgment dated 11.02.2021 of the learned Single Judge in W.P.(C).No.4593 of 2020. The brief facts necessary for disposal of this Writ Appeal are as follows:

Consequent to an anomaly being noticed in the pay scales extended to the respondents herein, who are working as Watchmen in the Kerala High Court Service, and the pay scale extended to Watchmen in the Secretariat Service, a recommendation was made, based on the recommendations of the 9th Pay Revision Commission, for extending the scale of Rs.9940 – 16580 to the Watchman in the Kerala High Court Service, corresponding to the similar scale that was recommended for Watchman in the Government Secretariat. The Government, however, sanctioned only the scale of Rs.8500 – 13210 to the Watchman in Kerala High Court Service while extending the higher scale of Rs.9940 – 16580 to the Watchman of the Secretariat. The anomaly was once again pointed out to the State Government through the recommendation of the Chief Justice dated 9.1.2012. The Government, however, rejected the said request for parity in pay scale by Government Order GO(MS) No.196/2012/Home dated 16.7.2012. This prompted the Chief Justice to seek a review of the Government decision through a letter No.A1-1830/2010/J5/FW dated 11.1.2013. While so, some High Court Librarians, who were similarly aggrieved by a pay revision anomaly consequent to the 9th Pay Revision approached the Division Bench of this Court through writ petitions, which culminated in a decision of the Division Bench directing the State Government to reconsider the pay revision benefits extended to the said Librarians. It was the resultant decision of the Division Bench in K.G.Rajamohan v. State of Kerala – [2013 (3) KLT 803] that was followed by this Court in the judgment dated 24.07.2014 in W.P. (C).No.25293 of 2013 pertaining to the respondents herein, who are Watchmen in the Kerala High Court Service. When the directions in K.G.Rajamohan (supra) were not acted upon by the Government, a Contempt of Court Case [Con.Case (C).No.945 of 2014] was preferred by the said Librarians, which was closed by judgment dated 07.01.2015, recording the submission on behalf of the State Government that the State Government would consider the anomaly, occasioned in extending pay revision benefits to the Librarians, along with the pay revision benefits contemplated under the 10th Pay Revision.

2. It would appear that when the 10th Pay Revision Commission recommended pay scales, the specific case of Librarians, Watchman and certain other categories did not engage the attention of the Pay Revision Commission and consequently, the anomalous situation in the pay scales noticed above were not addressed through the Pay Revision Commission recommendations. This prompted the Chief Justice of this Court to write to the Government through letter No.DO.No.FW/J3-49631/2014 dated 06.11.2015, to consider the case of those categories of employees, including that of the Watchman in the High Court Service, for the extension of the revised scale of Rs.9940 – 16580 [under the 9th Pay Revision] and the corresponding revised pay scale [under the 10th Pay Revision]. When, despite the recommendation of the Chief Justice, the State Government did not rectify the anomaly in pay scales in respect of the Librarians as also the Watchman, the Librarians approached this Court through a re-opening of the contempt case that was earlier closed through judgment dated 07.01.2015. Through judgment dated 02.11.2016 in Cont. Case (C).No.1766 of 2016, the Division Bench of this Court sought the views of the State Government and thereafter, the State Government passed a Government Order GO(MS) No.315/2016/Home dated 14.12.2016 granting parity in pay scales to the Librarians under the 10th Pay Revision but with effec