In news– Recently, the Loksabha has passed the High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, 2021 by voice vote.
Key provisions of the bill-
- The Bill seeks to amend the High Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1954, and the Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1958.
- These Acts regulate the salaries and conditions of service of the judges of High Courts and the Supreme Court of India.
- Both the Acts particularly provide that every retired judge or his/ her family after his/ her death, shall be entitled to pension or family pension respectively.
- The bill further proposes to insert an explanation in sections 17B of the HC Judges Act and 16B of the Supreme Court Judges Act to clarify the government’s objective.
- It addresses the anomalies in the disbursal of pension of retired Supreme Court and High Court judges.
- The amendments entitle them to an additional quantum of pension or family pension when they attain a certain age in accordance with a specified.
Constitutional provisions related to the High Court & Supreme Court-
- Articles 214-231 deals with the provisions of High Courts in India.
- It provides for separate high courts for separate states,
- As per 7th constitutional amendment act the same high court can be the court for more than one state.
- The Chief Justice and Judges of the High Courts are to be appointed by the President under clause (1) of Article 217 of the Constitution.
- Article 124(1) and Amendment act of 2008 states that there shall be a Supreme Court of India consisting of a Chief justice of India (CJI) and 34 judges including the CJI.
- Salaries of Judges of the Supreme Court are determined by Parliament by law.
Source: All India Radio
