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Issue for Consideration Allowances granted to judicial officers and retired judicial officers by the Second National Judicial Pay Commission (SNJPC).Judiciary – District Judiciary – Recommendations by Second National Judicial Pay Commission (SNJPC) regarding various allowances for judicial officers and retired judicial officers – 21 allowances considered by SNJPC in its report:Held: As regards House Building Advance (HBA), recommendation of SNJPC that HBA be available to judicial officers also for the purchase of a ready built house from private individuals subject to such safeguards as may be prescribed by the State Govt. in consultation with their respective High Courts – Modification accepted – Payment of Children Education Allowance as recommended, approved – Recommendation for discontinuation of City Compensatory Allowance and no recovery to be made, accepted – Recommendations w.r.t Concurrent Charges Allowance; payment of conveyance/transport allowance; Earned Leave Encashment; Electricity and Water Charges; Hill Area/Tough Location Allowance; Home Orderly/Domestic Help Allowance; Newspaper and Magazine Allowances; Risk Allowance; Robe Allowance; Special Pay for Administrative Work; Telephone Facility; Transfer Grant accepted –As regards Higher Qualification Allowance, the restrictive condition imposed by SNJPC in regard to non-extension of advance increments at the ACP stage, not accepted – Subject to this clarification, recommendations accepted – Further, out of the five components of house rent related allowances, two components-Furniture and Air Conditioner Allowance and Maintenance introduced for the first time – All the components suggested are accepted – As regards, Leave Travel Concession/Home Travel Concession, recommendations are on a continuum and accepted, except for foreign travel to SAARC countries which shall be deleted – Substantive recommendations made w.r.t Medical Allowance/Facilities, accepted – As regards sumptuary allowance, recommendation for increase of 2.25 times based on the yardstick of annual inflation and increase of points in the consumer price index, accepted – Committee for Service Conditions of the District Judiciary (CSCDJ) be constituted in each High Court for overseeing the implementation of the recommendations of the SNJPC as approved – Composition, functions of the Committee and the issues to be considered, enumerated – States and Union Territories to act in terms of the directions expeditiously – Disbursements on account of arrears of salary, pension and allowances due and payable to judicial officers, retired judicial officers and family pensioners be computed and paid on or before 29.02.2024 – CSCDJs to monitor compliance and submit report on or before 07.04.2024. [Paras 20, 24, 27, 29, 32, 34, 37, 40, 43, 44, 46, 48, 50, 55, 65, 67, 69, 71, 74, 77, 79, 81, 83-87]Judiciary – District Judiciary – Allowances for judicial officers, retired judicial officers – Objections raised that revision of rates/new allowances will result in an increased financial burden and expenditure; the rules governing the payment of allowances prescribed by each State for their own administrative establishment must be followed; and the benefits which are provided to judicial officers must be equivalent to those provided to other Government officers:Held: Submissions urged on behalf of the States have been considered in several previous judgments of this Court – Judicial service is an integral and significant component of the functions of the State and contributes to the constitutional obligation to sustain the rule of law – State is duty bound to ensure that the conditions of service, both during the tenure of office and after retirement, are commensurate with the need to maintain dignified working conditions for serving judicial officers and in the post-retirement emoluments made available to former members of the judicial service – Members of the district judiciary are the first point of engagement for citizens who are confronted with the need for dispute resolution – The conditions in which judicial officers across the country are required to work are arduous – The work of a judicial officer is not confined merely to the working hours rendered in the course of judicial duties in the court – That apart, members of the district judiciary have wide ranging administrative functions which take place beyond working hours, especially on week-ends – Further, there is a need to maintain uniformity in the service conditions of judicial officers across the country – Thus, the plea that rules of each State must govern pay and allowances, lacks substance – Judges are not comparable with the administrative executive – They discharge sovereign state functions and just like the Council of Ministers or the political executive and their service is different from the secretarial staff or the administrative executive which carries out the decisions of the political executive, judges are distinct from judicial staff, and are thus comparable with the political executive and legislature – Wholly inappropriate to equate judicial service with the service of other officers of the State – The functions, duties, restrictions and restraints operating during and after service are entirely distinct for members of the judicial service – Plea of equivalence rejected yet again. [Paras 13, 17 and 18] |
