A retired high court judge filed a petition before a bench of Justices B R Gavai, P K Mishra, and K V Viswanathan, claiming he was only getting a pension of Rs 15,000.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court voiced its “shock” at the fact that some retired high court judges received pitiful pensions of between Rs 6,000 and Rs 15,000 each.
A bench of Justices B R Gavai, P K Mishra, and K V Viswanathan was hearing a petition filed by a retired high court judge who said he was receiving a mere Rs 15,000 pension.
After 13 years as a judicial officer in the district court, the petitioner was promoted to the position of judge of the Allahabad High Court. He claimed that the authorities had not taken his judicial service into account when calculating his pension.
“It is shocking that retired high court judges are receiving pensions of Rs 6,000 and Rs 15,000 before us. How can that be?” the bench remarked.
According to Justice Gavai, post-retirement benefits for judges varied by high court and were significantly better in some states.
The Supreme Court then rescheduled the hearing for November 27.
The Supreme Court ruled in March, in response to a separate plea, that retired high court judges’ pension benefits cannot be determined differently depending on whether they were promoted from the district judiciary or the bar.
According to the statement, a retired high court judge’s pension benefits should be calculated using their most recent high court judge salary after they were promoted from the district judiciary.