• The High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, 2017 was introduced in Lok Sabha by the Minister for Law and Justice, Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad on December 21, 2017.The Bill seeks to amend (i) the High Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1954; and (ii) the Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1958.These Acts regulate the salaries and conditions of service of the judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court.

• Salary:  The two Acts specify the salaries of judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts.  The Bill seeks to revise their salaries with effect from January 1, 2016:

Table 1: Salary of judges (per month)

Designation	Present (Rs)	Proposed (Rs)
Chief Justice of India	1,00,000	2,80,000
Other Judges of the Supreme Court	90,000	2,50,000
Chief Justice of High Court	90,000	2,50,000
Other Judges of High Court	80,000	2,25,000

 

Sources: The High Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1954; The Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1958; The High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, 2017; PRS.

• Allowances:  Under the two Acts, a sumptuary allowance is paid to judges of the High Court and the Supreme Court to compensate for expenses incurred on account of entertaining visitors.  The Bill seeks to revise this allowance with effect from September 22, 2017.  

Table 2: Sumptuary Allowance of judges (per month)

Designation	Present (Rs)	Proposed (Rs)
Chief Justice of India	20,000	45,000
Other Judges of the Supreme Court	15,000	34,000
Chief Justice of High Court	15,000	34,000
Other Judges of High Court	12,000	27,000

 

Sources: The High Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1954; The Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1958; The High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, 2017; PRS.

• The two Acts specify that judges of the High Court and the Supreme Courts will be entitled to the use of an official residence, without payment of rent.Further, if judges do not use this entitlement, they will be paid a monthly allowance equal to 30% of their salary.The Bill seeks to revise this allowance to 24% of their salary.Further, it specifies that this allowance will be revised to: (i) 27% of salary when the dearness allowance (DA) crosses 25%, and (ii) 30% of salary when DA crosses 50%.
• Pension:  The two Acts specify the pension for High Court and Supreme Court judges based on: (i) if they have previously held a pensionable post under the central or state governments, or (ii) if they have not held any such post.  The Bill seeks to revise the pension for judges under both these categories.   Further, it also revises the cap on maximum pension payable to these judges (see Table 3).

Table 3: Maximum pension of judges (per annum)

Designation	Present (Rs)	Proposed (Rs)
Chief Justice of India	6,00,000	16,80,000
Other Judges of the Supreme Court	5,40,000	15,00,000
Chief Justice of High Court	5,40,000	15,00,000
Other Judges of High Court	4,80,000	13,50,000

 

Sources: The High Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1954; The Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1958; The High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, 2017; PRS.

 

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