Pathetic, the Supreme Court said on the pension of retired High Court judges

Images used for representation purposes only. | Photo credit: Reuters

The Supreme Court on Wednesday (Dec 18, 2024) said it was “pathetic” that some retired high court judges were getting pension ranging from ₹ 10,000 to ₹ 15,000.

“You cannot take a legal approach to every matter. Sometimes, you need a humanitarian approach,” observed a bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan.

“It is pathetic,” the bench said, adding that some retired high court judges were getting pensions ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000.

Petitions regarding the pension of retired judges of the High Court have been listed for hearing in the bench on Wednesday (December 18).

Attorney General R. Venkataramani referred the case to the bench and asked for hearing in January.

Mr. Venkataramani said that the government will try to solve the problem.

“It is better to convince them that our interference should be avoided,” the bench observed.

The issue will not be decided in individual cases and whatever the Supreme Court holds, will apply to all High Court judges, he said.

The bench has fixed the hearing of the case on January 8.

While hearing a petition in the matter last month, the Supreme Court had expressed “shock” that some retired high court judges were getting paltry pensions ranging between ₹ 6,000 to ₹ 15,000.

The bench was hearing a petition filed by a retired judge of the high court saying that he had received a pension of Rs 15,000.

The petitioner, who was elevated as a judge of the Allahabad High Court after serving as a judicial officer in the District Court for 13 years, claimed that the authorities refused to consider his judicial service while calculating his pension. were

“When we have retired high court judges before us who are getting ₹6,000 and ₹15,000 pension, it is shocking. How can that happen?” The bench made this comment while hearing the petition.

While hearing a separate petition in March, the Supreme Court had said that there should be no discrimination in calculating the pension benefits of retired high court judges on the basis of whether they were promoted from the Bar or the District Judiciary.

The pension benefit of a retired high court judge promoted from the district judiciary should be calculated on the basis of his final salary as a high court judge, he said.