NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Centre to examine the issues in connection with the meagre pension being given to district judges as they were getting just Rs 15,000.
A bench of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra requested the Attorney General and the Solicitor General to sit together with the amicus curiae and find a solution.
"We, being the guardian of the district judiciary, urge you to find a way out,"
the bench requested the top law officers, who sought time for the purpose.
The bench said that several petitions are being filed by district judges before the court raising pension-related grievances.
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On behalf of the Centre, Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta requested the court to give some time to address the pension aspects of district court judges.
The bench said the district judges are only getting Rs 15,000 as pension.
"District judges come to High Courts and generally they are elevated to High Courts at the age of 56 and 57 years and they retire with pension of Rs 30,000 per month," the bench said.
The court noted very few High Court judges get arbitration matters and moreover, at the age of 60 years, they cannot go for legal practice and they do not get arbitration matters.
The bench referred to a case of a district judge, who was suffering from cancer, and termed it an extremely hard case.
Advocate K Parmeswar, amicus curiae in the matter, said that many states have complied with the Second National Judicial Pay Commission (SNJPC) recommendations regarding the payment of arrears of pension and other retirement benefits to judicial officers.
The All India Judges Association sought the implementation of welfare measures for retired judges by filing a plea before the top court.
The court fixed the matter for further hearing on August 27.
