Difficult for my conscience to draw salary during summer vacations: Justice BV Nagarathna

Justice BV Nagarathna of the Supreme Court on Tuesday said that she often feels guilty for drawing her salary during court vacation when judges don't have to attend court for hearing cases. .The comment from the top court judge came while refusing to grant back wages to civil judges who were terminated from service by the Madhya Pradesh government and later reinstated following the apex court's intervention."I feel so bad to get my salary during the summer vacation because I know we have not worked then," she said..A Bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh was informed by the amicus curiae Senior Advocate Gaurav Agrawal that the termination of four of the judges had been revoked by the Madhya Pradesh High Court, while the termination of the remaining two judges has been upheld by the full court.Thereafter, Senior Advocate R Basant urged the court to consider granting back wages for the period when the judges were not in service. However, Justice Nagarathna clarified that back wages could not be granted given that the judges had not worked during the period of their termination."The kind of work judges do... you know the ones being reinstated cannot expect back wages. When they did not work as judges, we cannot grant back wages. Our conscience does not permit it," she said..Subsequently, the apex court directed Madhya Pradesh High Court to issue orders expeditiously to enable the four officers to rejoin duty as soon as possible."These officers will be given continuity in service. The suo motu writ with respect to officers whose termination is upheld will survive. The suo motu concerning the four who have been inducted back is disposed of," the Court added..The Supreme Court had in January taken suo motu cognisance of the termination of the six judges by the Madhya Pradesh government in June 2023.The termination orders were passed by the law department following an administrative committee and a full court meeting finding their performance during the probation period unsatisfactory.In a February hearing, the bench had orally asked the High Court whether it was willing to reconsider its decision.The Supreme Court in July again asked the Madhya Pradesh High Court to reexamine its decision.It had directed that the full-court of the High Court take a call on the representations of the affected judges, afresh, within a month.Pursuant to that the High Court in its full court meeting decided to reinstate four of the six judges.