The Union Cabinet is expected to take a call on the issue of hiking the salary of the Supreme Court and High Court judges on Thursday.

The cabinet is meeting amidst reports that the plan has not found favour with the Union Finance Ministry.

As per media reports the Finance Ministry, although seems inclined to approve a hike but is unwilling to do so as per the recommendations proposed by a three-judge committee constituted by the Chief Justice of India (CJI).

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Once the Cabinet takes a call on the issue, a Bill would be introduced in Parliament as the legislatures nod is required for any change in the salary structure of higher judiciary.

Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan, in a letter to the ministry in July, had sought a hike of two to three times the present monthly salaries of judges of the higher judiciary.

He had pointed towards the pay revision proposal for government employees under the Sixth Pay Commission and built a case for salary hike for judges as well. The CJI, at present, gets a monthly salary of Rs 33,000. The letter had suggested raising it to Rs 1.1 lakh.

For other apex court judges, the CJI had suggested a monthly salary of Rs 1 lakh and favoured a similar pay for Chief Justices of High Courts. The chief justice had proposed a monthly salary of Rs 90,000 for High Court judges.

Seeking better perks, the CJI also talked about raising the medical reimbursements for judges from the higher judiciary.

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Judges in India are pretty powerful but now they want more power and status. It is informed that the Chief Justice of India (CJI) has written to the Law Minister asking for a pay hike to keep up with bureaucrats after the Sixth Pay Commission.

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It seems that the issue goes far beyond money.

The four-page letter written by the Chief Justice of India has created a flutter. Implementation of his request will first need the Cabinet’s approval and then the Parliament’s sanction.

The controversy is not about them wanting more money. The government doesn’t know what to do with the CJI’s request to bring his pay at par with the Governor’s scale.

Before the Sixth Pay Commission, the Chief Justice of India’s basic salary at Rs 33 thousand was on par with the Cabinet Secretary and Rs three thousand less than the Governor’s pay. Now the Chief Justice wants his salary to be hiked to Rs 1.1 lakh the same as the Governor.

The Chief Justice also wants a hike for other judges. Rs 1 lakh for Supreme Court colleagues and Rs 90,000 for High Court judges. That’s the salary of the Cabinet Secretary– India’s top bureaucrat.

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