New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked all high courts to expedite the process of constituting a two-judge panel in connection with the grievances of district judicial officers on the implementation of the Second National Judges Pay Commission recommendations.
The matter came up before a bench comprising Justices B R Gavai, Augustine George Masih, and K Vinod Chandran.
Senior advocate K Paremeshwar, who is assisting it as an amicus curiae, said though some high courts had set up the panels they did not meet regularly to deal with the grievances. He added that this prompted several judicial officers to move before the apex court. Paremeshwar said many high courts were yet to form the Committee for Service Condition of the District Judiciary (CSCDJ) as directed by the court earlier.
The apex court also directed the nodal officers -- required to be retired district judges -- of the CSCDJs to be appointed within four weeks.
“We therefore, request all the high courts to implement the directions issued by this court by order dated January 4, 2024. If the CSCDJs are not appointed so far by any of the high courts, the same shall be appointed within a period of four weeks from today," said the bench.
The top court asked its registry to send a copy of its order to the chief secretaries of all states and UTs and the registrar generals of high courts.
Last year in January, the top court had recommended setting up the two-judge panel in all high courts to ensure that the orders on pay, pension and other retiral benefits for judicial officers as per the Second National Judicial Pay Commission (SNJPC) were implemented.
The SNJPC recommendations cover pay structure, pension, and family pension and allowances, besides dealing with the issue of establishing a permanent mechanism to determine subjects of service conditions of the district judiciary.
The apex court was hearing a plea filed by the All India Judges Association and others on pay and service conditions of district judicial officers.
