New Delhi: The Supreme Court will Monday hear a plea by seven Patna High Court Judges alleging closing of their General Provident Fund (GPF) accounts. The plea has been filed by Patna High Court judges Shailendra Singh, Arun Kumar Jha, Jitendra Kumar, Alok Kumar, Sunil Dutta Mishra, Chandra Prakash and Chandra Shekhar Jha.
Also read: SC asks Centre to look into seven Patna HC judges allegation over closure of their GPF accounts
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India, Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justice P S Narasimha and Justice JB Pardiwala is hearing the plea of the Patna HC judges, who claim that their GPFs have been closed by the authorities. In the plea, the Patna HC judges alleged that they were not entitled to the enhanced GPF while being elevated from the district judiciary.
The apex court had on Mar. 20 ordered the release of the salaries of the judges as an "interim measure". The apex court had ordered release of the salaries of the judges according to the position existing before Dec. 13, 2022 when the Union Ministry of Law and Justice took up the issue of their entitlement of GPF of the judges.
It can be recalled that after hearing the plea by the seven Patna HC judges in late Feb. this year, the Supreme Court had asked the Centre to look into the judges' grievances, who claimed that their General Provident Fund (GPF) accounts had been closed. Under the GPF scheme, some officials contribute some amount of their salaries to the account, which they can avail of only after their retirement. The employee can deduct up to 15% of his salary from the GPF account.
