PAY HIKE FOR JUDGES LIKELY
The Union cabinet is likely to discuss changes in law enabling pay hikes for judges of the SC and the 24 HCs as well as the members of the subordinate judiciary across states ahead of the winter session of Parliament later this month. The law ministry last month cleared a proposal for setting up the Second National Judicial Pay Commission to recommend pay hikes for around 22,000 judges and magistrates of subordinate courts.
NEW DELHI: The Union cabinet is likely to discuss changes in law enabling pay hikes for judges of the Supreme Court and the 24 high courts as well as members of the subordinate judiciary across states ahead of the winter session of Parliament expected later this month.
While the law ministry cleared a proposal last month for setting up the Second National Judicial Pay Commission (SNJPC) to recommend pay hikes for approximately 22,000 judges and magistrates of subordinate courts, it is yet to come up before the cabinet.
An official in the ministry said that the cabinet is likely to take it up in the coming days.
“The bills for raising the salaries of judges will also be discussed by the cabinet before the winter session,” the official said, indicating that the two legislations — separate ones for Supreme Court and high court judges — are expected to be tabled in the upcoming session.
While exact details are not knows, sources said the bills will propose an approximate two-and-a-half fold increase in the current emoluments of judges, which is marginally below the hikes recommended last year by a committee of three judges constituted by Chief Justice of India.
Judges continue to be paid according to the Sixth Pay Commission. Their salaries were last hiked in 2009 but with retrospective effect from 2006. The CJI draws ₹1 lakh per month, apart from other allowances, Supreme Court judges draw approximately ₹90,000 and those in high courts around ₹80,000.
In December 2016, then CJI TS Thakur forwarded a report to the government recommending an estimated 300% hike in the salaries of judges.
On October 31, while hearing a matter related to SC, employees had asked the government counsel, additional solicitor general PS Narasimha, about the status of revision of salaries.
The government is preparing amendments to the High Court and the Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Act, which have to passed by the legislature. The hike is expected to be with effect from January 2016.
Meanwhile, the ministry’s justice department has increased the dearness allowance of members of the higher judiciary and brought it on par with those of the all-India services with retrospective effect from July.