The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed “shock” over retired high court judges getting a meager pension of between Rs 6,000 and Rs 15,000.
A bench of Justices BR Gavai, PK Mishra and KV Viswanathan heard a petition filed by a retired high court judge who claimed that he was getting a pension of just Rs 15,000.
The petitioner, who was elevated as a judge of the Allahabad High Court after serving as an officer of the district court for 13 years, said that the authorities refused to consider his judicial service while applying for pension.
“If there are retired high court judges in front of us who earn Rs 6,000 and Rs 15,000 as pension, it is shocking. How is that possible?” observed the bench.
Justice Gavai said post-retirement facilities for judges differed from each high court and some states offered better benefits.
The high court subsequently posted the case on November 27.
While hearing a separate petition in March, the apex court said there can be no discrimination in calculating the pension benefits of retired high court judges based on whether they were promoted to the bench or district judge.
The pension benefits of a retired high court judge, who was promoted to the post of district justice, should be calculated based on his last salary earned as a high court judge, it said.
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