Nod to pay hike for judges

Girja Shankar Kaura

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 22

The Centre today approved revision of salaries of Supreme Court and High Court judges. The decision came at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by PM Narendra Modi here.

The revision would include salary, gratuity, allowances, pension, etc, of sitting and retired judges. The decision follows the implementation of recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission in respect of civil servants.

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The approval will pave the way for necessary amendments to the two laws — Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1958 and High Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1954 — which govern the salaries of the Chief Justice of India (CJI), judges of the Supreme Court, Chief Justices and all judges of High Courts.

The government intends to move Bills to amend these two Acts in the forthcoming winter session of Parliament.

The increase in emoluments will be effective from January 1, 2016, and benefit 31 judges of the Supreme Court (including the Chief Justice of India) and 1,079 judges (including the Chief Justices) of High Courts. About 2,500 retired judges will also benefit from the revision. The arrears on account of revised salaries, gratuity, pension and family pension will be paid from January 1, 2016, as one-time lump sum payment, said Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad while briefing the media about the Union Cabinet decisions.

Once the hike is effected, the salary of judges will be on a par with those of bureaucrats. A Supreme Court judge at present gets Rs 1.5 lakh a month in hand after all deductions from salary and allowances. The CJI gets a higher amount than this, while judges of the High Courts get a lesser amount. 

Approval given to 15th Finance panel  

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved setting up of the 15th Finance Commission to assess the tax resources and devise a formula for their devolution among states. The commission members and its terms of reference will be notified later, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said. Its recommendations will have to be in place before April 1, 2020. “Normally, it takes two years to give recommendations,” he said. 

550 ex-CAPF men at airport counters

The Centre has decided to hire 550 ex-paramilitary personnel to bolster manpower of the short-staffed immigration counters at airports. The Intelligence Bureau has written to various Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), seeking nomination of recently retired officials in the rank of sub-inspector. The aim is to boost the strength of the Bureau of Immigration amid growing passenger traffic at international airports.