In a significant order passed today, the Supreme Court has ordered a 30 percent hike in basic pay of judges of subordinate judiciary..The order was passed today by a Bench of Justices Jasti Chelameswar and Sanjay Kishan Kaul after it accepted the report submitted by the Commission comprising retired Supreme Court judge, Justice P Venkatarama Reddy and Senior Advocate and former Kerala High Court judge R Basant..Senior Advocate Gourab Banerji appeared for the petitioner association..The order came in a petition filed by All India Judges Union which had prayed for constitution of an All India Judicial Commission for reviewing the service conditions of the judicial officers of subordinate judiciary in India including pay scale, retirement age, pension and other emoluments..On May 9, 2017, the Court had constituted the Commission comprising Justices Reddy and Basant and had laid down the following terms of reference to be considered by the Commission:. To evolve the principles which should govern the structure of pay and other emoluments of Judicial Officers belonging to the sub-ordinate judiciary all over the country. To examine the present structure of emoluments and conditions of service of Judicial Officers in the states and UT’s taking into account the total packet of benefits available to them and make suitable recommendations including post-retirement benefits such as pension etc. having regard among other relevant factors, to the existing relativities in the pay structure between the officers belonging to sub-ordinate judicial services vis-a-vis other civil servant and mechanism for redressal of grievances in this regard. To examine the work methods and work environment as also the variety of allowance and benefits in kind that are available in Judicial Officers in addition to pay and to suggest rationalization and simplification thereof with a view to promoting efficiency in Judicial Administration, optimizing the size of judiciary etc. and to remove anomalies created in implementation of earlier recommendations. To consider and recommend such interim relief as it considers just and proper to all categories of Judicial Officers of all the 5 States/Union Territories. The interim relief, if recommended, shall have to be fully adjusted against and included in the package which may become admissible to the Judicial Officers on the final recommendations of the Commission. To recommend the mechanism for setting up of a permanent mechanism to review the pay and service conditions of members of sub-ordinate judiciary periodically by an independent commission exclusively constituted for the purpose and the composition of such commission should reflect adequate representation on behalf of the judiciary..The Commission had submitted its report earlier this year suggesting 30 per cent increase in basic pay as an interim measure. The following were the recommendations made by the Commission..Interim relief to the extent of 30% of increase in basic pay with accrued increments shall be paid to all categories/ranks of Judicial Officers.The said increased in Pay shall be treated as a separate component and no D.A. is payable thereon.Arrears shall be worked out with effect from 01.01.2016 on the above basis.On the same basis, the interim relief shall be provided to the pensioners and family pensioners with effect from 01.01.2016 and the arrears to be paid accordingly.Wherever the benefit of interim relief has already been granted, the Judicial Officers in those States/UTs can exercise their option to continue to be governed by such Orders.The amounts payable by way of interim relief now proposed are liable to the adjusted against the future determination pursuant to the final report submitted by the Commission..The Court accepted the said recommendations..“None of the respondents raised any objection with respect to the recommendations made by the above-mentioned Committee regarding the interim relief(pay). In the circumstances, we deem it appropriate to direct all the respondents to implement the recommendations of the Commission, thesummary of which is already extracted above.”.The Court also directed that the interim relief regarding the pay of the Judicial Officers as recommended by the Commission should be implemented by all the concerned States and Union Territories with effect from May 1, 2018..Read the order below.
In a significant order passed today, the Supreme Court has ordered a 30 percent hike in basic pay of judges of subordinate judiciary..The order was passed today by a Bench of Justices Jasti Chelameswar and Sanjay Kishan Kaul after it accepted the report submitted by the Commission comprising retired Supreme Court judge, Justice P Venkatarama Reddy and Senior Advocate and former Kerala High Court judge R Basant..Senior Advocate Gourab Banerji appeared for the petitioner association..The order came in a petition filed by All India Judges Union which had prayed for constitution of an All India Judicial Commission for reviewing the service conditions of the judicial officers of subordinate judiciary in India including pay scale, retirement age, pension and other emoluments..On May 9, 2017, the Court had constituted the Commission comprising Justices Reddy and Basant and had laid down the following terms of reference to be considered by the Commission:. To evolve the principles which should govern the structure of pay and other emoluments of Judicial Officers belonging to the sub-ordinate judiciary all over the country. To examine the present structure of emoluments and conditions of service of Judicial Officers in the states and UT’s taking into account the total packet of benefits available to them and make suitable recommendations including post-retirement benefits such as pension etc. having regard among other relevant factors, to the existing relativities in the pay structure between the officers belonging to sub-ordinate judicial services vis-a-vis other civil servant and mechanism for redressal of grievances in this regard. To examine the work methods and work environment as also the variety of allowance and benefits in kind that are available in Judicial Officers in addition to pay and to suggest rationalization and simplification thereof with a view to promoting efficiency in Judicial Administration, optimizing the size of judiciary etc. and to remove anomalies created in implementation of earlier recommendations. To consider and recommend such interim relief as it considers just and proper to all categories of Judicial Officers of all the 5 States/Union Territories. The interim relief, if recommended, shall have to be fully adjusted against and included in the package which may become admissible to the Judicial Officers on the final recommendations of the Commission. To recommend the mechanism for setting up of a permanent mechanism to review the pay and service conditions of members of sub-ordinate judiciary periodically by an independent commission exclusively constituted for the purpose and the composition of such commission should reflect adequate representation on behalf of the judiciary..The Commission had submitted its report earlier this year suggesting 30 per cent increase in basic pay as an interim measure. The following were the recommendations made by the Commission..Interim relief to the extent of 30% of increase in basic pay with accrued increments shall be paid to all categories/ranks of Judicial Officers.The said increased in Pay shall be treated as a separate component and no D.A. is payable thereon.Arrears shall be worked out with effect from 01.01.2016 on the above basis.On the same basis, the interim relief shall be provided to the pensioners and family pensioners with effect from 01.01.2016 and the arrears to be paid accordingly.Wherever the benefit of interim relief has already been granted, the Judicial Officers in those States/UTs can exercise their option to continue to be governed by such Orders.The amounts payable by way of interim relief now proposed are liable to the adjusted against the future determination pursuant to the final report submitted by the Commission..The Court accepted the said recommendations..“None of the respondents raised any objection with respect to the recommendations made by the above-mentioned Committee regarding the interim relief(pay). In the circumstances, we deem it appropriate to direct all the respondents to implement the recommendations of the Commission, thesummary of which is already extracted above.”.The Court also directed that the interim relief regarding the pay of the Judicial Officers as recommended by the Commission should be implemented by all the concerned States and Union Territories with effect from May 1, 2018..Read the order below.
