Judgment

DUTT, J.: - These Writ Petitions and Civil Miscellaneous Petitions have been filed by the employees of the SC praying for their pay hike. Two events, which will be stated presently, seem to have inspired the employees of the SC to approach the Court by filing Writ Petitions. The first of the two events is the report of a Committee of Five Judges of this Court consisting of Mr. Justice P. N. Bliagwati (as he then was) as the Chairman, Mr. Justice V. D. Tulzapurkar, Mr. Justice D. A. Desai, Mr. Justice R. S. Pathak (as he then was) and Mr. Justice S. Murtaza Fazal Ali. The second event, which is the most important one, is the judgments of the Delhi High Court passed in writ proceedings instituted by its employees.

2. The Five-Judge Committee in its report stated, inter alia, that no attempt had been made to provide a separate and distinct identity to the ministerial staff belonging to the Registry of the SC. According to the Committee, the borrowed designations without any attempt at giving a distinct and independent identity to the ministerial staff in the Registry of the SC led to invidious comparison. The Committee observed that the salary scale applicable to various catego