New Delhi: The Supreme Court today directed
the implementation of increased pay scales for judicial
officers of subordinate courts across the country, which will
enhance their salary almost three-fold.
A bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and
Justices Deepak Verma and B S Chauhan said state governments
would give salary as per the recommendations of the Justice
Padmanabhan committee.
All India Judges Association (AIJA) had approached the
apex court seeking implementation of the recommendation of the
Committee contending that there has been a wide disparity
between the salary of judicial officers and other government
employees.
The hike in pay scales is to be implemented with effect
from January 2006 as per the recommendations of the apex
court-appointed committee which had submitted its report in
July 2009. The hike will translate into a monthly increase of
nearly Rs 20,000 for judges at the entry level.
The court said the arrears shall be paid by way of 60 per
cent in cash while 40 per cent would be deposited in Provident
Funds.
Justice E Padmanabhan, a former judge of the Madras High
Court, had submitted his report to the Supreme Court proposing
an average three-fold hike in the existing salaries that was
recommended by the first National Judicial Pay Commission
(NJPC) in 1999.
The recommendations of the first NJPC headed by Justice
Jagannatha Shetty had entitled civil judge (junior division)
starting salary of Rs 11,775, civil judge (senior division) Rs
15,200, district judge (entry level) Rs 20,800 and district
judge (super time scale) Rs 23,850.
With the increase in pay scale as recommended by the
Padmanabhan committee, also considered as second NJPC, the
starting salary of a civil judge (junior division) is expected
to be around Rs 35,000, a hike of over Rs 20,000.
As per the recommendations, the salary of a civil judge
(senior division) would be around Rs 45,000, a hike of around
Rs 30,000. Similarly, the salary of a district judge (entry
level) would be around Rs 60,000.
The second judicial pay commission was appointed
following a Supreme Court order on April 30 on an application
filed by AIJA.
-PTI
