NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has directed Chief Secretaries of 17 states and union territories to be personally present before the court on August 27 for non-implementation of the Second National Judicial Pay Commission's (SNJPC) recommendations on payment of pension arrears and retirement benefits to judicial officers.
A bench of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra would hear the case on Tuesday on a plea of the All India Judges Association and 22 other similar petitions.
The association sought the implementation of welfare and other measures for former judges and judicial officers.
The apex court had sought the appearance of head of bureaucracy in states like Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Bihar, Haryana and Odisha.
Senior advocate K Parameshwar, who acted as amicus curiae in the matter, had contended claimed that as many as 18 states and UTs have not complied with the SNJPC recommendations fully, though several orders have been issued.
He said as per the responses received from the States/UTs, they still not complied with the orders of this Court dated 27 July 2022, 19 May 2023 and 4 January 2024.
The bench had noted that its order had not been complied with and ordered the personal appearance of the senior most officers.
“They have to appear before us or we will issue non-bailable warrants (NBW) against them," the bench had said.
Several state governments, including of Tamil Nadu asked the court to allow the chief secretaries to virtually appear in the matter. However, the bench had said that the top bureaucrats would have to appear before it personally to explain the delay.
On August 8, the Supreme Court had asked the Centre to examine the issues in connection with the meagre pension being given to district judges.
The court had then asked the Attorney General and the Solicitor General to sit together with the amicus curiae and find a way out.
"We, being the guardian of the district judiciary, urge you to do so," the bench told the top law officers.
The bench had said the district judges are only getting Rs 15,000 as pension.
The court had earlier emphasised on the correlation between providing appropriate allowances to judges and safeguarding the independence of the judiciary.
“The state is duty-bound to ensure that the conditions of service both during the tenure of office and upon retirement are commensurate with the need for dignity in terms of working conditions and post-retirement benefits made available to former judicial service candidates," the court had said.
