Supreme Court - Daily Orders
All India Judges Association vs Union Of India . on 27 July, 2022
Bench: Chief Justice, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli
1
ITEM NO.17 COURT NO.1 SECTION X
S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Writ Petition(Civil) No.643/2015
ALL INDIA JUDGES ASSOCIATION Petitioner(s)
VERSUS
UNION OF INDIA . & ORS. Respondent(s)
(LEARNED ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR INDIA AND SHRI K. PARAMESHWAR,
ADVOCATE AS AMICUS CURIAE).
(IA No. 70316/2020 APPLICATION FOR PERMISSION, IA No. 96520/2020
APPLICATION FOR PERMISSION, IA No. 66487/2021 APPROPRIATE
ORDERS/DIRECTIONS, IA No. 68481/2020 – CLARIFICATION/DIRECTION, IA
No. 100172/2020 – CLARIFICATION/DIRECTION, IA No. 88733/2020 –
CLARIFICATION/DIRECTION, IA No. 70323/2020 –
CLARIFICATION/DIRECTION, IA No. 50728/2020 EXEMPTION FROM FILING
AFFIDAVIT, IA No. 66488/2021 EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T., IA No.
1375/2021 EXTENSION OF TIME, IA No. 50727/2020 EXTENSION OF
TIME, IA No. 125439/2018 INTERVENTION APPLICATION, IA
No.68480/2020 INTERVENTION APPLICATION, IA No. 100166/2020
INTERVENTION APPLICATION, IA No. 87335/2020 INTERVENTION
APPLICATION, IA No. 70318/2020 INTERVENTION APPLICATION, IA No.
18284/2020 – INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT, IA No. 109809/2021 –
INTERVENTION/ IMPLEADMENT, IA No. 169826/2019 – INTERVENTION/
IMPLEADMENT, IA No. 165066/2019 – INTERVENTION/ IMPLEADMENT)
WITH
C.A. No. 2702/2017 (XVI)
W.P.(C) No. 869/2021 (X)
SLP(C) No. 64716473/2020 (IVA)
(FOR ADMISSION and I.R.)
W.P.(C) No. 993/2017 (X)
(IA No. 136171/2019 INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT)
W.P.(C) No. 548/2018 (X)
W.P.(C) No. 911/2018 (X)
(FOR ADMISSION IA No. 18577/2020 ADDITION / DELETION /
MODIFICATION PARTIES, IA No. 107836/2018 APPROPRIATE
ORDERS/DIRECTIONS & IA No. 107837/2018 EXEMPTION FROM FILING
O.T.)
Signature Not Verified
W.P.(C) No. 86/2019 (X)
Digitally signed by
VISHAL ANAND
(IA No. 7729/2019 EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.)
Date: 2022.07.27
22:10:00 IST
Reason:
SLP(C) No. 7246/2019 (IVB)
(I.A. FOR EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT ON IA
36522/2019, FOR APPLICATION FOR TAGGING/DETAGGING ON IA 163293/2019
2
FOR EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T. ON IA 163296/2019
FOR STAY APPLICATION ON IA 19104/2020, IA No. 163293/2019
APPLICATION FOR TAGGING/DETAGGING, IA No. 36522/2019 EXEMPTION
FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED JUDGMENT, IA No. 163296/2019
EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T., IA No. 19104/2020 STAY APPLICATION)
W.P.(C) No. 244/2019 (X)
(FOR ADMISSION)
W.P.(C) No. 1542/2019 (X)
(FOR ADMISSION)
C.A. No. 2701/2017 (XVI)
(To FOR DELETING THE NAME OF PETITIONER/RESPONDENT ON IA
165114/2019 IA No. 165114/2019 DELETING THE NAME OF
PETITIONER/RESPONDENT)
W.P.(C) No. 1040/2017 (X)
(FOR impleading party ON IA 49553/2019)
W.P.(C) No. 1048/2017 (X))
W.P.(C) No. 1262/2021 (X)
(FOR ADMISSION)
Date : 27072022 These matters were called on for hearing today.
CORAM :
HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE KRISHNA MURARI
HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE HIMA KOHLI
For Petitioner(s)
Mr. K.M. Nataraj, Ld. ASG
Ms. V. Mohana, Adv.
Mr. Shailesh Madiyal, Adv.
Mr. Rajan Kumar Chourasia, Adv.
Mr. Vatsal Joshi, Adv.
Ms. Chinmaee Chandra, Adv.
Ms. Shradha Deshmuk, Adv.
Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, AOR
Mr. Saket Singh, Adv.
Ms. Somya Shree, Adv.
Mrs. Niranjana Singh, AOR
Ms. Anisha Upadhyay, AOR
Mr. Vaibhav Kalra, Adv.
Mr. Ankur Yadav, AOR
Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR
Mr. B. Balaji, AOR
Mr. Gourab Banerji, Sr. Adv.
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Ms. Mayuri Raghuvanshi, AOR
Mr. Vyom Raghuvanshi, Adv.
Ms. Purvat Wali, Adv.
Ms. Akanksha Rathore, Adv.
Mr. Subhro Prokas Mukherjee, Adv.
Mr. V. N. Raghupathy, AOR
Ms. Pritha Srikumar, AOR
Ms. Mansi Binjrajka, Adv.
Mr. S.R. Singh, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Mangal Prasad, Adv.
Mr. Ajay Yadav, Adv.
Mr. Gaurav Lomes, Adv.
Mr. Prithvi Yadav, Adv.
Mr. Tushar Bakshi, AOR
Mr. Sanjay Parikh, Adv.
Ms. Aparna Bhat, AOR
Ms. Karishma Maria, Adv.
Mr. N.K. Mody, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Probuddha Singh, Adv.
For M/s. Pareekh & Co., AOR
Mr. Nitin Singh, Adv.
Mr. Shashank Shekhar, Adv.
Mr. Apoorva Singh, Adv.
For Respondent(s) Mr. Sharan Thakur, Adv.
Mr. Mahesh Thakur, AOR
Mr. Siddharth Thakur, Adv.
Ms. Vipasha Singh, Adv.
Mr. Ajay Kanojiya, Adv.
Mr. Bishwendra N. Singh, Adv.
Mr. Navamiti Pd. Singh, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Shantanu Sagar, AOR
Mr. Anil Kumar, Adv.
Mr. K.M. Nataraj, ASG
Ms. Swarupama Chaturvedi, Adv.
Mr. D.L. Chidananda, Adv.
Ms. Neela Kedar Gokhale, Adv.
Mr. Rajan Kumar Chourasia, Adv.
Mr. Mukesh Kumar Maroria, AOR
Mr. K.M. Nataraj, ASG
Ms. Madhavi Goradia Divan,ASG
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Ms. V. Mohana, Sr. Adv.
Ms. Kiran Suri, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Sarad Singhania, Adv.
Mr. Shailesh Madiyal, Adv.
Mr. Anmol Chandan, Adv.
Mr. Vatsal Joshi, Adv.
Mr. T.S. Sabarish, Adv.
Mr. Ayush Puri, Adv.
Ms. Nidhi Khanna, Adv.
Mr. T.S. Shabarwal, Adv.
Mr. Mohd. Akhil, Adv.
Ms. Swarupama Chaturvedi, Adv.
Mr. Rajan Kr. Chourasia, Adv.
Ms. Neela Kedar Gokhale, Adv.
MR. Anuj Srinivas Udopa, Adv.
Mr. Arvind Kumar Sharma, AOR
Mr. Divyakant Lahoti, AOR
Mr. Shashank Garg, Adv.
Mr. Parikshit Ahuja, Adv.
Ms. Praveena Bisht, Adv.
Ms. Madhur Jhavar, Adv.
Mr. Kartik Lahoti, Adv.
Ms. Vindhya Mehra, Adv.
Ms. Nishtha Jain, Adv.
Mrs. Anil Katiyar, AOR
Mr. K.N. Balgopal, Sr. Adv.
Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR
Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv.
Ms. Nitya Nambiar, Adv.
Mr. Vitso Rio, Adv.
Mr. Ishaan Sharma, Adv.
Ms. Chubalemla Chang, Adv.
Mr. Abhinav Bajaj, Adv.
Mr. Abhimanyu Tewari, AOR
Ms. Eliza Bar, Adv.
Mr. Sudhanshu S. Choudhari, AOR
Mr. P. I. Jose, AOR
Mr. Prashant K. Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Jenis Francis, Adv,
Mr. James P. Thomas, Adv.
Mr. Alok K. Prasad, Adv.
Mr. Anipam Mishra, Adv.
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Ms. Diksha Rai, AOR
Ms. Ragini Pandey, Adv.
Mr. Anandh Kannan N., AOR
Mr. Shridhar Y. Chitale, Adv.
Ms. Sujata Kurdukar, AOR
Mr. Pratap Venugopal, AOR
Mr. Gaurav Agrawal, AOR
Mr. Samar Vijay Singh, AOR
Ms. Amrita Verma, Adv.
Mr. D. K. Devesh, AOR
Mr. Abhinav S. Raghuvanshi, Adv.
Mr. Apurv S., Adv.
Mr. Suprabh Kumar Roshan, Adv.
Mr. Upendra Pratap Singh, Adv.
Mr. Harsh Singh Rawat, Adv.
Ms. Snehal U. Kanzarkar, Adv.
Ms. Kavita Jha, AOR
Mr. Adteya Bali, Adv.
Mr. Apoorv Kurup, AOR
Ms. Nidhi Mittal, Adv.
Ms. Mukti Chaudhry, AOR
Mr. Abhay Anil Anturkar, Adv.
Ms. Bhavya Pande, Adv.
Mr. Dhruv Tank, Adv.
For M/s. Dr. R.S. Deshpande And Associates, AOR
Mr. Barun Kumar Sinha, Adv.
Mr. Kumar Anurag Singh, Adv.
Ms. Pallavi Langar, AOR
Mr. Ratan Kumar Choudhuri, AOR
Mr. Sandeep Sudhakar Deshmukh, AOR
Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, AOR
Mr. G. Prakash, AOR
Mr. Naresh K. Sharma, AOR
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Mr. Malak Manish Bhatt, AOR
Mr. Ashutosh Dubey, AOR
Mrs. Rajshree Dubey, Adv.
Mr. Abhishek Chauhan, Adv.
Mr. Ashwani Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Amit P. Shahi, Adv.
Mr. Amit Kumar, Adv.
Ms. Ranjeeta Rohatgi, AOR
Ms. Samten Doma, Adv.
Mr. Nishant Ramakantrao Katneshwarkar, AOR
Mr. K.M. Nataraj, Ld. ASG
Mr. S. Wasim A. Qadri, Sr. Adv.
Mr. S.A. Qudi Singh, Adv.
Mr. Mukesh Kumar Verma, Adv.
Mr. P.R. Rajesh, Adv.
Mr. G. Sante Sheme, Adv.
Ms. Sunita Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Anmol Chandan, Adv.
Ms. Neela Kedar Gokhle, Adv.
Mr. Mohd. Akhil, Adv.
Mr. Vatsal Joshi, Adv.
Mr. Anirudh Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Anuj Srinivas Udupa, Adv.
Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR
Mr. Mrinal Gopal Elker, AOR
Mr. Nikhil Goel, AOR
Ms. Aakanksha Kaul, Adv.
Ms. Garima Bajaj, AOR
Ms. Pragati Neekhra, AOR
Mr. Vinod Sharma, AOR
Ms. Pratyusha Priyadarshini, Adv.
For M/s.Parekh & Co., AOR
Ms. Radhika Gautam, AOR
Mr. Krishnanand Pandeya, AOR
Mr. Barun Kr. Sinha, AAG
Mr. Kumar Anurag Singh, Adv.
Mr. Anando Mukherjee, AOR
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Mr. Shwetank Singh, Adv.
Mr. Raghvendra Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Anand Kumar Dubey, Adv.
Simanta Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Nishant Verma, Adv.
Ms. Rajlakshmi Singh, Adv.
Mr. Sunil Saraogi, Adv.
Mr. Varun Singh, Adv.
Mr. Narendra Kumar, AOR
Mr. A. Radhakrishnan, AOR
Ms. Komal Mundhra, AAG
Mr. Raghavendra S.Srivatsa, AOR
Mr. Venkta Subramanian T.R., Adv.
Mr. Rahat Bansal, Adv.
Mr. Likhi Chand Bonsle, Adv.
Mr. Nishe Rajen Shonker, AOR
Ms. Anu K. Joy, Adv.
Mr. Alim Anvar, Adv.
Mr. Ashok Mathur, AOR
Mr. Avneesh Arputham, Adv.
Ms. Anuradha Arputham, Adv.
Mr. Praveen Kr. Singh, Adv.
For M/s.Arputham Aruna And Co, AOR
Mr. T. G. Narayanan Nair, AOR
Mr. Mukesh K. Giri, AOR
Mr. Arjun Garg, AOR
Mr. Shobhit Jain, Adv.
Mr. Aakash Nandolia, Adv.
Ms. Sagun Srivastava, Adv.
Mr. Mahfooz Ahsan Nazki, AOR
Mr. Polanki Gowtham, Adv.
Mr. Shaik Mohamad Haneef, Adv.
Mr. T. Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy, Adv.
Mr. K.V. Girish Chowdary, Adv.
M. Rajeswari Mukherjee, Adv.
Mr. Gopal Singh, AOR
Mr. Manoj Goel, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR
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Mr. Shreyas Balaji, Adv.
Mr. Kabir Shankar Bose, Adv.
Mr. Arnav Singh Deo, Adv.
Mr. Samrat K. Shinde, Adv.
Mr. Rahul Chitnis, Adv.
Mr. Sachin Patil, AOR
Mr. Aaditya A. Pande, Adv.
Mr. Geo Joseph, Adv.
Ms. Shweta Shepal, Adv.
Mr. Abhinav Singh, Adv.
Mr. Nirvikar Singh, Adv.
Mr. Manish Kumar, AOR
Ms. Aswathi M.k., AOR
Mr. Abhishek Atrey, AOR
Mr. Arun Bhardwaj, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Piyush Hans, Adv.
Ms. Annu Singh, Adv.
Mr. Naveen Gupta, Adv.
Ms. Gauraan, Adv.
Mr. Abhishek Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Bhaskar Bhardwaj, Adv.
Mr. Piyush Gaur, Adv.
Mr. Vishwa Pal Singh, AOR
Ms. Taruna Ardhendumauli Prasad, AOR
Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR
Mr. Karun Sharma, Adv.
Ms. Anupam Ngangom, Adv.
Mr. Wahengbam Immanuel Meitei, Adv.
Mr. Nikhil Goel, AAG
Mr. V. N. Raghupathy, AOR
Mr. Adithya Roy, Adv.
Mr. Sanjai Kumar Pathak, AOR
Mr. Arvind Kumar Tripathi, Adv.
Mrs. Shashi Pathak, Adv.
Mr. Saurabh Mishra, Ld. AAG
Mr. Manoj Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Sunny Choudhary, AOR
Mr. Siddhesh Kotwal, Adv.
Ms. Ana Upadhyay, Adv.
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Ms. Manya Hasija, Adv.
Mr. Akash Singh, Adv.
Mr. Nihar Dharmadhikari, Adv.
Mr. Nirnimesh Dube, AOR
Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, AOR
Mr. Shaurya Sahay, Adv.
Mr. Upendra Mishra, Adv.
Mr. T.K. Nayak, Adv.
Mr. Marbiany Khongwir, Adv.
Mr. Shibashish Misra, AOR
Mr. Sibo Sankar Mishra, AOR
Mr. Debabrata Dash, Adv.
Mr. Umakant Mishra, Adv.
Mr. Rajesh Kumar Nayak, Adv.
Mr. Niranjan Sahu, Adv.
Mr. Prateek K. Chadha, AAG
Mr. Shashwat Mehra, Adv.
Mr. Ketan Paul, AOR
Ms. Ayushi Rajput, Adv.
Mr. Mukul Kumar, AOR
Mr. Abhinav Mukerji, AOR
Mrs. Bihu Sharma, Adv.
Ms. Pratishtha Vij, Adv.
Mr. Akshay C. Shrivastava, Adv.
Mr. Sameer Abhyankar, AOR
Mr. Abhinav Mishra, Adv.
Ms. Nishi Sangtani, Adv.
Ms. Vani Vandana Chhetri, Adv.
Ms. Yeshi Rinchhen, Adv.
Ms. Pooja Singh, Adv.
Mr. Harsh, Adv.
Mr. Amish Tandon, Adv.
Mr. Ayush Beotra, Adv.
Mr. M. Yogesh Kanna, AOR
Mr. V. Krishnamurthy, Sr. Adv.
Dr. Joseph Aristotle S., AOR
Ms. Nupur Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Shobhit Dwivdi, Adv.
Mr. Sanjeev Kumar Mahara, Adv.
Ms. Richa Vishwakarma, Adv.
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Mr. V. Balachandran, Adv.
Mr. Siddharth Naidu, Adv.
For M/s. KSN & Co., AOR
Mr. Sanjay Kumar Tyagi, AOR
Mr. Prabhat Kumar Rai, Adv.
Mr. Ajay Kumar Pandey, Adv.
Mr. Yagyawalkya Singh, Adv.
Mr. Sudarshan Singh Rawat, AOR
Mr. Ashutosh Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Sunny Sachin Rawat, Adv.
Ms. Saakshi S. Rawat, Adv.
Mr. S. Udaya Kumar Sagar, AOR
Ms. Sweena Nair, Adv.
Mr. P. Mohith Rao, Adv.
Mr. Parijat Sinha, AOR
Ms. Uttara Babbar, AOR
Mr. Anirudh Ramakrishnan, Adv.
Ms. Shipra Jain, Adv.
Mr. Manpreet S. Doabia, Adv.
Ms. Kiran Bhardwaj, AOR
Mr. Amrish Kumar, AOR
Mr. Chirag M. Shroff, AOR
Mr. Amandeep Mehta, Adv.
Ms. Vanshaja Shukla, AOR
Ms. Sajal Singhai, Adv.
Mr. Aravindh S., AOR
Ms. A. Lakshmi Narayanan, Adv.
Ms. Preetika Dwivedi, AOR
Mr. Abhishek Mohanty, Adv.
Ms. Madhumita Bhattacharjee, AOR
Mr. Anant, Adv.
Mr. Jaideep Gupta, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Kunal Chatterji, AOR
Ms. Maitrayee Banerjee, Adv.
Mr. Rohit Bansal, Adv.
Mr. Gautam Narayan, AOR
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Ms. Asmita Singh, Adv.
Mr. Anupam Raina, AOR
Mr. Sunando Raha, Adv.
Ms. Madhavi Goradia Divan, Ld. ASG
Ms. Kiran Suri, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Arijit Prasad, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Bharat Singh, Adv.
Mr. Prashant Singh, Adv.
Mr. Shashank Bajpai, Adv.
Mr. Shubhankar Singh, Adv.
Ms. Gargi Khanna, Adv.
Mr. Anmol Chandan, Adv.
Mr. Shailesh Madiyal, Adv.
Mr. T.S. Sabarish, Adv.
Mr. Anuj Srinivas Udupa, Adv.
Mr. Raj Bahadur Yadav, AOR
Ms. Hemantika Wahi, AOR
Mr. P. S. Sudheer, AOR
Mr. Rishi Maheshwari, Adv.
Ms. Anne Mathew, Adv.
Mr. Bharat Sood, Adv.
Ms. Shruti Jose, Adv.
Mr. Rohit K. Singh, AOR
Mr. Farrukh Rasheed, AOR
Mr. T. V. Ratnam, AOR
Mr. Vinay Arora, AOR
Mrs. Anjani Aiyagari, AOR
Ms. M.V. Rama, Adv.
Ms. Divya, Adv.
Mr. K. Sriram, Adv.
Mr. Sudhir Kumar Saxena, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Aviral Saxena, AOR
Mr. Vikas Jain, Adv.
Mr. Diyant Mishra, Adv.
Manjeet Rathore, Adv.
Mr. Ankur Kashyap, AOR
Mr. Ajith S. Ranganathan, Adv.
Mr. Rohit Rajershi, Adv.
Mr. Aman Bajaj, Adv.
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Mr. V. Giri, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Joydeep Roy, Adv.
Mr. Gopal Jha, AOR
Mr. Umesh Kumar Yadav, Adv.
Mr. Uday B. Dube, AOR
Mr. K.Parameshwar, AOR(Amicus Curiae)
Ms. A. Sregurupriya, Adv.
Mr. M.V. Mukunda, Adv.
Ms. Madhavi S. Sawant, Adv.
Mr. Hitesh Kumar Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Akhileshwar Jha, Adv.
Dr. Vivek Sharma, Adv.
Ms. Kavita S. More, Adv.
Mr. Subhash S. Kadam, Adv.
UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following
O R D E R
1. In All India Judges’ Association vs. Union of India1, (All India Judges’ Association CaseI), this Court had issued a slew of directions, which included (i) the setting up of an All India Judicial Service; (ii) bringing about uniformity in the designation of officers; (iii) raising of the age of retirement to 60 years;
(iv) provision of residential accommodation to judicial officers etc. One of the directions so issued, which is relevant for our present purpose, reads as follows: “63(iv) As and when the Pay Commissions/Committees are set up in the States and Union Territories, the question of appropriate pay scales of judicial officers be specifically referred and considered.”
2. Petitions for reviewing the aforesaid Judgment were filed by the Union of India as well as by various States, objecting to 1 (1992) 1 SCC 119 13 certain specific directions contained therein. These review petitions were disposed of by this Court by an Order dated 24.08.1993 in All India Judges’ Association vs. Union of India 2, which came to be referred to as All India Judges’ Association Case II. Though certain directions issued in All India Judges’ AssociationI were modified in the judgment in All India Judges’ Association CaseII, the above direction contained in paragraph 63(iv) of the original judgment was not modified.
3. In All India Judges’ Association CaseII, the necessity to maintain parity in status between the Judges and the Political Executive, and not between the Judges and the Administrative Executive, was highlighted. It will be appropriate to quote the first part of paragraph 36 of the decision in All India Judges Association CaseII :
“we have already discussed the need to make a distinction between the political and the administrative executive and to appreciate that parity in status can only be between Judges and the political executive and not between Judges and the Administrative executive. Hence the earlier approach of comparison between the service conditions of the Judges and those of the administrative executive has to be abandoned and the service conditions of the Judges which are wrongly linked to those of the administrative executive have to be revised to meet the special needs of the judicial service.”
4. Moreover, this Court highlighted in All India Judges’ Association CaseII, the need to keep Judges above their essential wants, considering the distinct nature of Judges’ duties, the 2 (1993) 4 SCC 288 14 society’s expectations, the lifestyle of the Judge and the occupational hazards to which he is exposed.
5. Subsequently the Government of India constituted the First National Judicial Pay Commission (FNJPC) under the Chairmanship of Mr. Justice K.J. Shetty. As a consequence, the reference to the 5 th Central Pay Commission, of the question of revision of pay scales of judicial officers was dropped.
6. The FNJPC submitted its Report on 11.11.1999 recommending adoption of what is known as `Master Pay Scales’ comprising of 44 stages. The Commission recommended fixed quantum increments with six incremental rates from Rs.250 to Rs.500, spanning over 44 specified stages.
7. By a judgment dated 21.03.2002 passed in All India Judges’ Association vs. Union of India3, (All India Judges’ Association caseIII), this Court recommended the implementation of the revised scales of pay with effect from 1.07.1996. However, it was directed that the judicial officers shall be paid salary in revised pay scales with effect from 1.07.2002 and the arrears of salary for the period from 1.07.1996 to 30.06.2002 was directed to be paid either in cash or by crediting the same into the provident fund accounts of the officers.
8. After the constitution of the 6 th Central Pay Commission, the question of revision of the scales of pay of judicial officers came up once again before this Court in All India Judges’ Association 3 (2002) 4 SCC 247 15 vs. Union of India4, (All India Judges’ Association CaseIV). By an order dated 28.04.2009 this Court appointed Mr. Justice E. Padmanabhan, a retired Judge of the High Court of Madras as a One man Committee, to make suitable recommendations. This Committee submitted a report on 17.07.2009.
9. Thereafter, this Court passed an Order on 4.05.2010 recording that most of the States have accepted the recommendations, though there was a dispute about the date of implementation. Moreover, this Court directed the States to implement Justice E. Padmanabhan Committee’s recommendations with effect from 01.01.2006.
10. Nearly 5 years after the order passed in All India Judges’ Association CaseIV, the present writ petition came to be filed by the All India Judges’ Association in the year 2015, seeking various reliefs including constitution of All India Judicial Commission to review the service conditions of judicial officers. In this writ petition, an order was passed on 09.05.2017, appointing the Second National Judicial Pay Commission (SNJPC), with Mr. Justice P. Venkatarama Reddy, a former Judge of this Court as its Chairman and Mr. R. Basant, a former Judge of the Kerala High Court as its member. The terms of reference of the Commission, as agreed to by all parties, were extracted in the Order dated 09.05.2017.
11. Accordingly a notification was issued on 16.11.2017 constituting the Second National Judicial Pay Commission. Some of the terms of reference of the Commission were as follows: 4 (2011) 12 SCC 677 16
(i) to evolve the principles which should govern the structure of pay and other emoluments of Judicial Officers.
(ii) to examine the existing structure of emoluments and conditions of service and to make recommendations including post retirement benefits.
(iii) to examine the work methods and work environment as also the variety of allowances and benefits and to suggest rationalization.
12. In January 2020, the Commission submitted its Report in five volumes, namely VolumeI, IA, II, III and IV. The summary of the recommendations are as follows: Benefit Recommendations I Pay Structure (1) New Pay Structure shall be as per the pay matrix pattern on the model of 7th Central Pay Commission, as against the Master Pay Scale pattern. (2) The categorization of Judicial Officers shall be :
Civil Judge (Jr.Division) (Entry Level) J1 Civil Judge (Jr.Division) (ACPI) J2 Civil Judge (Jr.Division) (ACPII) J3 Civil Judge (Sr.Division) (Entry Level) J3 Civil Judge (Sr.Division) (ACPI) J4 Civil Judge (Sr.Division) (ACPII) 17 J5 District Judge (Entry Level) J5 District Judge (Selection Grade) J6 District Judge (Super Time Scale) J7 (3) The initial pay for each rank of officer from J1 to J5 shall be 2.81 times the existing entry pay of each rank.
(4) For J6 and J7 the increase shall be in the same proportion as that of High Court Judges. (5) While there shall be no change in the existing system regarding the date of accrual of increment, the retiring Judicial Officers shall have the benefit of increment becoming due the next day following the retirement. This increment shall be for the purpose of pension only and subject to vertical ceiling of Rs.2,24,100/ (6) The new Pay Matrix/Pay Structure will be effective from 1.1.2016 and arrears shall be paid in the Calendar Year 2020.
Pension (1) National Pension Scheme/defined Contributory Pension Scheme shall not II be applicable to Judicial Officers.
Old pension scheme shall be
applicable.
(2) No change suggested in the
18
existing percentage of pension at 50% and family pension at 30% of the last pay drawn, for those retiring on or after 1.1.2016.
(3) Those who retired before
1.01.2016 shall be granted pension
with effect from 1.01.2016, by
notionally fixing their pay at the
corresponding stage of the revised
pay scale and calculating the pension as a percentage of the notional pay.
(4) The direct recruits of higher judicial service who have retired prior to 1.01.2016 shall be given a maximum weightage of 10 years as per the number of years of practice at the Bar.
III Family Pension No change in the existing percentage,
namely, 30%
IV Additional (1) Additional quantum of pension
shall be given to those in the age
Quantum of
groups mentioned in Column I, at the Pension/Family rate mentioned in ColumnII, with Pension effect from 1.01.2016:
7580 years 20%
8085 years 30%
8590 years 40%
9095 years 60%
95100 years 80%
On completion of 100 100%
years
V Retirement/Death (1) With effect from 1.1.2016, the
maximum limit for retirement
Gratuity
gratuity/death gratuity shall be
Rs.20,00,000/, which shall be
increased by 25% whenever DA rises by 19 50%.
(2) Death gratuity shall be
according to the length of service
mentioned in ColumnI below at the
rate mentioned in ColumnII
Less than one year Twice the
monthly
emoluments.
one year and more upto 6 times
5 years
5 years and more but 12 times
less than 11 years
11 years and more but 20 times
less than 20 years
20 years and more Half month of
emoluments
for every
completed six
monthly
period
subject to a
maximum of 33
times.
VI Allowances (1) House Building Advance as per
HBA Rules, 2017.
(2) Children Education Allowance @
Rs.2250/ per month and hostel
subsidy @ Rs.6750/ per month.
(3) CCA to be discontinued.
(4) Concurrent Charge Allowance @
10% of minimum of the scale of the
additional post.
(5) Conveyance/Transport Allowance
in the form of reimbursement to the extent of 100 litres of petrol in 20 cities and 75 litres in other areas and transport allowance of Rs.10,000/ per month for those who own a car. The list of Judicial Officers eligible to get official cars shall be enlarged.
(6) Three advance increments for acquiring higher qualification namely post graduation in law and one more advance increment for acquiring Doctorate in law.
(7) Hilly area/tough location allowance @ Rs.5000/ per month.
(8) Home orderly/Domestic help allowance shall be the minimum wages for one unskilled worker in the concerned State subject to minimum of Rs.10,000/ per month in respect of District Judges and 60% of the minimum wages for one unskilled worker subject to a minimum of Rs.7500/ per month in respect of Civil Judges.
(9) Domestic help Allowance to pensioners shall be Rs.9000/ per month and to family pensioners Rs.7500 per month. It shall be increased by 30% with effect from 1.01.2021. (10) House Rent Allowance: Residential Quarters shall be of a
minimum plinth area 2500 sq. ft. for District Judges and 2000 sq. ft. for 21 Civil Judges. Expeditious step shall be taken for completion of construction of residential complexes.
(11) One leave travel concession and one home travel concession in a block of three years shall be made available.
(12) Encashment of 10 years Earned Leave while availing LTC shall
continue in addition to encashment of 300 days at the time of retirement.
(13) Fixed medical allowance of Rs.3000/ per month to the serving Judicial Officers and fixed medical allowance of RS.4000/ to the
pensioners and family pensioners with effect from 1.1.2016.
(14) Reimbursement of newspapers and magazines shall be @ 1000/ for District Judges and Rs.700/ for Civil Judges and it shall be made available from 1.01.2020. (15) Robe Allowance of Rs.12,000/
to be paid once in three years with effect from 1.01.2016.
(16) Special pay for administrative work @ Rs.7000/ per month for Principal District and Sessions
Judges and @ Rs.3500/ per month for other District Judges and Rs.2000/ per month for officers below the rank of District Judges.
22
(17) Sumptuary allowance of
Rs.7800/ per month for District
Judges; Rs.5800/ per month for Civil Judges (Sr. Div.) and Rs.3800/ per month for Civil Judges (Jr. Div.) (18) Residential telephone, broadband facility and provision of mobile handset.
(19) Transfer grant at the rate of one month’s basic pay.
13. Though the recommendations of SNJPC covers various aspects, for the present, we propose to deal only with the revision of the pay structure. This is for the reason that after the implementation of the recommendations of Justice E. Padmanabhan Committee, with effect from 01.01.2006, a period of 16 years have passed without any revision of the same. In contrast, the 7 th Central Pay Commission has already been implemented with effect from 01.01.2016. Therefore, there is a need to atleast implement the revised pay structure immediately so as to alleviate the sufferings of the judicial officers.
14. As a matter of fact, the scales of pay of Government servants are raised in some States once in five years/six years and by the Central Government once in 10 years. Judicial Officers are not covered by the Pay Commissions constituted by the Central or State Governments. Therefore, there is an imperative need to revise the pay structure immediately.
15. One of the main objections to the revision of pay structure as 23 proposed by SNJPC, is the application of the multiplier of 2.81 and above. But this objection has already been taken by some of the States and is liable to be rejected for the two reasons, namely,
(i) that the 7th Central Pay Commission has applied a multiplier of 2.81 in respect of certain categories of All India Service Officers; and (ii) that Justice Padmanabhan Committee actually applied a multiplier of 3.07.
16. As a matter of fact, SNJPC, before making its recommendations, considered three modules, i.e., (1) Master Pay Scale Method; (2) Pay Matrix Method; and (3) Fixed Pay Method. After examining the advantages and disadvantages of all the three modules, the SNJPC has adopted Pay Matrix Method, as it had already been adopted by the 7th Central Pay Commission. A fourth module, namely, Fixed Pay Pattern was also examined but was not accepted, as it was a new concept and had not been tested anywhere else.
17. Having considered the Report of the SNJPC, the objections of the Union and the State Governments and the submissions of the learned amicus, we are of the view that the revision of pay structure as recommended by SNJPC, indicated in table1 appended, hereto shall be accepted.
18. This will lead us to two ancillary issues, namely (i) effective date; and (ii) arrears.
19. Since implementation of the recommendations of Justice E. Padmanabhan Committee was with effect from 01.01.2006, the revision of pay structure as recommended by SNJPC shall be implemented with 24 effect from 01.01.2016.
20. Insofar as arrears are concerned, it is noticed that the judicial officers were provided interim relief @ 30% of the basic pay, vide order dated 27.03.2018. Therefore, the arrears shall be computed with effect from 01.01.2016 and after adjusting the interim relief already paid, the balance amount shall be paid in stages in the following manner:
I 25% in cash within a period of 3 months;
II Another 25% to be paid in cash within 3 months thereafter;
and III the balance 50% has to be paid on or before the end of June, 2023.
21. We are informed that a few States have given revised pay structures to the Judicial Officers on the basis of the recommendations of the State Pay Commissions. Wherever the judicial officers have been given benefits under the respective Pay Commissions with effect from 01.01.2016, those judicial officers shall also be brought within the ambit of the pay structure, as recommended by SNJPC and the arrears shall be calculated after adjusting the amounts they have already received with effect from 01.01.2016. In case the arrears calculated on the basis of this order is less than the amount already disbursed, no recovery need be effected.
22. During the course of hearing, it was brought to our notice by 25 the learned Amicus Curiae that on earlier occasions, though directions were issued by this Court, several States have not implemented the pay scales, as approved by this Court and there was undue delay.
23. Taking into consideration the said fact, we direct the State Governments/Union Territories to file affidavits of compliance of this Order after each stage as indicated above, with the first compliance affidavit being filed within a period of three months from today.
24. Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner seeks permission to withdraw Writ Petition (C) No.244 of 2019. Permission as prayed for is granted and it is, accordingly, dismissed as withdrawn.
25. The Registry is directed to list Writ Petition(C) Nos.869/2021, 993/2017, 548/2018, 911/2018, 86/2019, 7246/2019, 1542/2019, 1040/2017, 1048/2017 and 1262/2021 tomorrow.
26. So far as rest of the reliefs are concerned, list the matters after some time.
(VISHAL ANAND) (R.S. NARAYANAN) ASTT. REGISTRARcumPS COURT MASTER (NSH) 26 TableI Sr. Civil Civil Civil Civil Civil Distric Distric No. Judge Judge Judge Judge Judge t t (Jr. (Jr. (Jr. (Sr. (Sr. Judges Judges Div) Div) Div) Div) 1 Div) (Select (Super Entry 1 II Stage II ion Time Level Stage Stage ACP Stage Grade) Scale) ACP ACP/Ci ACP/Dis vil trict Judge Judges (Sr. Entry Div) Level) Entry Level Existi 27700 33090 39530 43690 51550 57700 70290 ng Pay 44700 45850 54010 56470 63070 70290 76450 Scale Existi 27700 33090 39530 43690 51550 57700 70290 ng Entry Pay Level J1 J2 J3 J4 J5 J6 J7 Year 1 77840 92960 111000 122700 144840 163030 199100 Year 2 80180 95750 114330 126380 149190 167920 205070 Year 3 82590 98620 117760 130170 153670 172960 211220 Year 4 85070 101580 121290 134080 158280 178150 217560 Year 5 87620 104630 124930 138100 163030 183490 224100 Year 6 90250 107770 128680 142240 167920 188990 Year 7 92960 111000 132540 146510 172960 194660 Year 8 95750 114330 136520 150910 178150 200500 Year 9 98620 117760 140620 155440 183490 206510 Year 101580 121290 144840 160100 188990 212710 10 Year 104630 124930 149190 164900 194660 219090 11 Year 107770 128680 153670 169850 12 Year 111000 132540 158280 174950 13 Year 114330 136520 163030 180200 14 Year 117760 15 Year 121290 16 Year 124930 17 Year 128680 18 27 Year 132540 19 Year 136520 20