Parliament passes HC & SC Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, 2021

Parliament passed the “High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, 2021” on December 13, 2021.

Key Points

Bill was passed with the Rajya Sabha returning it to the Lok Sabha following the discussion. Bill was returned to Lok Sabha since it was a money bill.

About the Bill

The Bill seeks to amend “Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1958” as well as “High Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1954”. These Acts regulate the conditions of services and salaries of High Courts & Supreme court judges in India.

Provisions of the Bill

• Bill provides for additional quantum of pension or family pension. Under it, all the retired judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts including their family members are authorized to pension or family pension.
• They are also authorized to an additional quantum of pension or family pension, after they attain a certain age in line with a specified scale.
• Specified scale comprises of five age brackets, with minimum age of 80, 85, 90, 95, and 100 years.
• The additional quantum increases with increasing age, from 20% to 100% of the pension or family pension.
• As per bill, a person will be authorized to the additional pension or family pension from the first day of that month in which they complete minimum age under concerned age bracket.

Steps taken by central government to strengthen judiciary

Government has approved the extension of “Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary” for additional five years, from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2026 at the total cost of nine thousand crore rupees.  This scheme will help in constructing Lawyer Halls, court halls & residential units for judicial officers of District and Subordinate Courts and toilet complexes.

Month: Current Affairs - December, 2021