The court affirmed the principle that a fixed pay scale for a judicial office must apply uniformly to all successors, reinforcing the independence of the judiciary under Article 229.

JUDGMENT :

T.R. RAVI, J.

The prayer in this writ petition is to quash Ext.P15 and to declare that the Private Secretary to the Chief Justice under the Kerala High Court Service is entitled to the scale of pay equivalent to that of Joint Registrar in accordance with Ext.P3 Rules framed by the Honourable the Chief Justice under Article 229 of the Constitution of India in view of Exts.P8 to P13. Consequential reliefs are also prayed for.

2. The counsel for the petitioner relies on Ext.P8 judgment in W.P.(C) No.25933 of 2017, which had been filed by the then Private Secretary to the Chief Justice. In that judgment, this Court directed the Government of Kerala to reconsider the recommendation made by the Honourable the Chief Justice of Kerala, in the light of the remarks contained in Ext.P6 recommendation dated 06.11.2015 of the Honourable the Chief Justice, and issue appropriate orders with respect to the pay scale of the Private Secretary to the Chief Justice as expeditiously as possible. Pursuant to the said judgment, the Government issued Ext.P9 order on 06.12.2021, in which it was ordered that the Government, after examining the matter in detail, was pleased to sanction hike in the scale of pay of the former Private Secretary to the Chief Justice to that of Joint Registrar as “Personal Scale”. Subsequently, a stand was taken that the said scale applies only to the then incumbent.

3. On 21.06.2022, the Registrar of this Court had addressed the Government by Ext.P10 as directed by the Honourable the Chief Justice, wherein it was pointed out that the denial of the scale of pay which has been granted as per Ext.P9 to the successor in the post was not proper. The Government was also requested to grant the scale of pay of Rs.85000-117600 (pre-revised) to the petitioner with effect from 01.01.2020.

4. The petitioner in W.P.(C) No.25933 of 2017 had filed Contempt Case (C) No.2082 of 2021, which came up for consideration on 20.01.2023, and by Ext.P11 judgment, the contempt case was closed after noting the submission of the Sr. Government Pleader that what is directed is not a “personal pay”, but scale of pay to the post, and the benefits of which have been granted to the petitioner therein. The above judgment would clearly show that the intention in Ext.P9 was to grant the scale applicable to the Joint Registrar.

5. Thereafter, the Government passed Ext.P12 order dated 13.01.2023, reiterating that the Government was pleased to grant the monetary benefits of personal scale sanctioned to the former Private Secretary to the Chief Justice, similar to that of the Joint Registrar with effect from 01.07.2014. On 30.03.2023, the Registrar of this Court again addressed the Government as per Ext.P14, pointing out the judgments in W.P.(C) No.25933 of 2017 and Contempt Case (C) No.2082 of 2021 and the admission by the Government that the pay scale is not personal but to the post, and informing that the Hounourable the Chief Justice had directed the Registrar to reiterate the request to sanction the scale of pay to the petitioner from the date of his appointment i.e., 01.01.2020, at the earliest. On 31.07.2023, the Government addressed the Registrar General by Ext.P15, wherein it is stated as follows:

“In inviting attention to the reference cited, I am directed to inform you that the post of private Secretary to Chief Justice cannot be compared with the post of Joint Registrar which is a post with administrative powers. The above two posts belong to two different cadres and the method of appointment and qualifications are also different. However Government had agreed to accept the demand for scale hike to Sri. N. Ma