86540
Lawyers Network
103860
Users
630
Cities Serving
114
Law Schools Network
59824
HIGH COURT JUDGES (SALARIES AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE) ACT, 1954
STATEMENTS OF OBJECTS AND REASONS: "Under clause (2) of Art. 221 of the Constitution, every Judge of a High Court is entitled to "such allowances and to such rights in respect of leave of absence and pension as may from time to time be determined by or under law made by Parliament", provided that neither the allowances of a Judge nor his rights in respect of leave of absence or pension shall be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment. 2. This Bill seeks to determine the rights in respect of leave of absence and pension and certain other subsidiary conditions of Judges of High Courts in Part A States. 3. No substantial change is proposed in the leave terms' hitherto admissible to these High Court Judges, nor in their pensionary rights, except to the extent indicated below : (a) Under Part I of the Third Schedule to the Government of India (High Court Judges) Order, 1937, the service of a Judge for purposes of additional and maximum pension is classified into five different grades, under which non-Service Judges are entitled to draw additional pensions ranging from 20 pounds to 75 pounds and maximum pensions ranging from 1,000 pounds to 1.800 pounds. These different rates of pension were in consequence of the different rates of salary prescribed in the order. Under the Constitution, however, one uniform rate of salary has been laid down for Chief Justices and another uniform rate of salary for other Judges of High Courts in Part A States. Accordingly in paragraphs 4 and 5 of Part I of the First Schedule to this Bill, provision is made for one common scale of pensions for Chief Justices and another common scale for other Judges. Separate provision has been made, on the same terms as provided in the Govt. of India (High Court Judges) Order, 1937, for the pensions of Indian Civil Service and other Service Judges. (b) Hitherto, no pension has been admissible to a non-Service Judge of a High Court, unless, on attaining the age of sixty years, he completed not less than seven years' qualifying service for pension. Provision has been made in paragraph 9 of Part I of the First Schedule to this Bill for a minimum pension of Rs. 6,000 per annum even if the service put in by a Judge is less than seven years. This is considered necessary, mainly because of Article 220 of the Constitution barring practice after retirement, a provision which adversely affects the recruitment of desirable candidates who would not be able to put in the minimum seven years on attaining the age of sixty to qualify for pension. (c) Special provision has also been made to govern certain other subsidiary conditions of service, such as medical attendance facilities which are enjoyed by all Government servants and which, up to the commencement of the Constitution, were admissible also to High Court Judges under paragraph 26 of the Government of India (High Court Judges) Order, 1937."-Gazette of India, 1952, Part II, Sec. 2, page 654.
SECTION 01: SHORT TITLE
This Act may be called The High Court Judges1(Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1954.
SECTION 02: DEFINITIONS
(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-
(a) "acting Chief Justice" means a Judge appointed under article 223 of the Constitution to perform the duties of the Chief Justice;
(b) "acting Judge" means a person 2[* * *] appointed to act as a Judge under sub- section (2) of section 222 of the Government of India Act, 1935 3[or under clause (2) of article 224 of the Constitution];
(c) "actual service" includes -
(i) time spent by a Judge on duty as a Judge or in the performance of such other functions as he may, at the request of the President of India, undertake to discharge;
(ii) vacations, excluding any time during which the Judge is absent on leave;"
(iii) joining time on transfer from a High Court to the Supreme Court or from one High Court to another or from the Supreme Court to a High Court;
(iv) time spent by a Judge on duty as a Judge of a former Indian High Court;
(v) time spent by a Judge to attend the sittings of the Supreme Court as an ad hoc Judge under article 127 of the Constitution; and
(vi) vacation (excluding any time during which the Judge was absent on leave taken by a Judge as a Judge of a former Indian High Court;
(d) "additional Judge" means a person 4[* * *] appointed as an additional Judge under sub-section (3) of section 222 of the Government of India Act, 1935 5[or under clause (1) of article 224 of the Constitution];
(e) "former Indian High Court" means the High Court at Rangoon, the High Court at Lahore, the Chief Court of Sind or the Judicial Commissioner's Court of North-West Frontier Province;
(f) "High Court" means a High Court 6[for a State] and includes a High Court which was exercising jurisdiction 7[in a Part A State or] in the corresponding Province before the commencement of the Constitution;
(g) "Judge" means a Judge of a High Court and includes the Chief Justice, 8[an acting Chief Justice, an additional Judge and an acting Judge of the High Court];
9[(gg) "pension" means a pension of any kind whatsoever payable to or in respect of a Judge, and includes any gratuity or other sum or sums so payable by way of death or retirement benefits.]
(h) "service for pension" includes -
(i) actual service;
10 [(ii) the amount actually taken of each period of a leave on full allowances at a rate equal to the monthly rate of salary;]
(iii) joining time on return from leave out of India;
(1) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act.
(2) In the calculation of service for the purposes of this Act previous service for any period or period as acting Judge or additional Judge or as a Judge of a former Indian High Court shall be reckoned as service as a Judge but, save as otherwise expressly provided, previous service as an acting Chief Justice shall not be reckoned as service as Chief Justice.
(3) Any period of leave taken by a Judge before the commencement of this Act under the rules then applicable to him as an acting Judge, additional Judge or a Judge shall, for 'the purposes of this Act, be treated as if it were leave taken by him under this Act.
(4) Any period of leave taken by a Judge while serving as a Judge of a former Indian High Court before his appointment to a High Court shall, for the purposes of this Act, be treated as if it were leave taken by him under this Act.
SECTION 03: KINDS OF LEAVE ADMISSIBLE TO A JUDGE
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act leave granted to a Judge may be at his option either - 11[(a) leave on full allowances (including commuted leave on half allowances into leave on full allowances on medical certificate;] or
(b) leave on half allowances; or
(c) leave partly on full allowances and partly on half allowances.
(2) For the purposes of this Chapter, any period of leave on lull allowances shall be reckoned as double that period of leave on half allowances.
SECTION 04: LEAVE ACCOUNT SHOWING THE AMOUNT OF LEAVE DUE
(1) A leave account shall be kept for each Judge showing therein the amount of leave due to him in terms of leave on half allowances.
(2) In the leave account of a Judge-
(a) there shall be credited to him-
(i) one-fourth of the time spent by him on actual service; 12 [*]
(ii) where the Judge, by reason of his having been detained for the performance of duties not connected with the High Court, cannot enjoy any vacation which he would otherwise have been entitled to enjoy had he not been so detained, as compensation for the vacation
not enjoyed, a period equal to double the period by which the vacation enjoyed by him in any year falls short of one month; and 12[(iii) where the Judge had, prior to his appointment as such, held any pensionable post under the Union or a State, the period of leave earned by him in the said post, 14[***] and]
(b) There shall be debited to him all leave without allowances taken by him.
SECTION 05: AGGREGATE AMOUNT OF LEAVE WHICH MAY BE GRANTED
(1) The aggregate amount of leave which may be granted to a Judge during the whole period of his service as such shall not exceed in terms of leave on half allowances three years together with the aggregate of the periods, if any, credited to his leave account under sub-section (2)(a)(ii) of section 4-as compensation for vacation not enjoyed.
(2) The aggregate amount of leave on full allowances which may be granted to a Judge during the whole period of his service as such shall not exceed one-twenty-fourth of the period sent by him on actual serve together with one-half of the aggregate periods, if any, credited to his leave account under sub-section (2)(a)(ii) of section 4-as compensation for vacation not enjoyed.
(3)16 [Subject to the provisions of sub-section (2) of section 5A-, the maximum period of leave which may be granted] at one time shall be, in the case of leave on full allowances, five months and in the case of leave with allowances of any kind, sixteen months.
SECTION 05A: COMMUTATION OF LEAVE ON HALF ALLOWANCES INTO LEAVE ON FULL ALLOWANCES
(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (2) of section 5-, a Judge may be permitted to commute leave on half allowances into leave on full allowances on medical certificate up to a maximum of three months during the whole period of his service as a Judge.
(2) In computing the maximum period of leave on full allowances which may be granted at one time to a Judge under sub-section (3) of section 5-, the amount of commuted leave permitted to him under this section shall not be taken into account.]
SECTION 06: GRANT OF LEAVE NOT DUE
Subject to the maximum limit specified in sub-section (1) of section 5-, leave on half allowances may be granted to a Judge in excess of the amount at his credit -
(i) on medical certificate, or
(ii) otherwise than on medical certificate, for not more than six months18[or for two or more periods, not exceeding in the aggregate, six months] during the whole period of his service as a Judge: Provided that no such leave shall be granted if the Judge is not expected to return to duty at the end of such leave and earn the leave granted.
SECTION 07: SPECIAL DISABILITY LEAVE
The rules for the time being in force with respect to the grant of special disability leave in relation to an officer of the Central Civil Service, Class I, who has entered service on or after the 16th July, 1931 and who may be disabled by injury caused in, or in consequence of, the due performance of his official duties or in consequences of his official position, shall apply in relation to a Judge.
SECTION 08: EXTRAORDINARY LEAVE
19[Extraordinary leave may be granted to a Judge for a period not exceeding six months, or for two or more periods, not exceeding in the aggregate six months] during the whole period of his service as a Judge in excess of any leave permissible under the foregoing provisions of this Chapter, but no salary or allowances shall be payable during, or in respect of, such leave.
SECTION 09: LEAVE ALLOWANCES
(1) The monthly rate of leave allowances payable to a Judge while on leave on full allowances shall be 20[for the first forty-five days of such leave] a rate equal to the monthly rate of his salary, 22[and thereafter, in the case of the Chief Justice, fifty-five per cent of the monthly rate of his salary and in the case of each of the other Judges, sixty per cent of the monthly rate of his salary] 21[Provided that where leave on full allowances is granted to a Judge on medical certificate, the monthly rate of leave allowances shall, for the first one hundred and twenty days of such leave, be a rate equal to the monthly rate of his salary.]
(2) The monthly rate of leave allowances payable to a Judge while on leave on half allowances shall be one thousand one hundred and ten rupees.
SECTION 10: ALLOWANCES FOR JOINING TIME
There shall be payable to a Judge in respect of joining time on his return from leave out of India an allowance at the rate of one thousand one hundred and ten rupees a month in lieu of salary.
SECTION 11: COMBINING LEAVE WITH VACATION
A Judge may be permitted to combine vacation on full salary with leave, if -
(a) where the vacation consists of one continuous period, the leave is taken either at the commencement or at the end of the vacation but not at both:
(b) where the vacation is divided into two separate periods, the leave is taken for the interval, or part of the interval, between the two periods of that vacation, or for the interval, or part of the interval, between the second period of that vacation and the commencement of the next ensuing vacation : Provided that no such permission to combine vacation with leave shall be granted if it becomes necessary to appoint an acting Chief Justice during the period of vacation or if the Judge is not expected to return to duty at the end of such leave.
SECTION 12: CONSEQUENCES OF OVERSTAYING LEAVE OR VACATION
If a Judge overstays his leave or any vacation, whether combined with leave or not, he shall receive no salary for the period of his absence in excess of leave granted to him or beyond the end of the vacation, as the case may be: Provided that if such absence is due to circumstances beyond his control, the period thereof may be treated as leave and may be debited to his leave account.
SECTION 13: AUTHORITY COMPETENT TO GRANT LEAVE, ETC
The authority competent to grant or refuse leave to a Judge or revoke or curtail leave granted to a Judge shall be the Governor of the State in which the principal seat of the High Court is situate, after consultation with the Chief Justice of that High Court.
SECTION 13A: SALARIES OF THE JUDGES
27(1) There shall be paid to the Chief Justice of a High Court, by way of salary, thirty thousand rupees per mensem.
(2) There shall be paid to a Judge of a High Court, by way of salary, twenty-six thousand rupees per mensem.
SECTION 14: PENSION PAYABLE TO JUDGES
Subject to the provisions of this Act, every Judge shall, on his retirement, be paid a pension in accordance with the scale and provisions in Part I of the First Schedule: Provided that no such pension shall be payable to a Judge unless -
(a) he has completed not less than twelve years of service for pension, or
(b) he has attained the age of 23[sixty-two years;] or
(c) his retirement is medically certified to be necessitated by ill-health: 24 [Provided further that if a Judge at the time of his appointment is in receipt of a pension (other than a disability or wound pension) in respect of any previous service in the Union or a State, the pension payable under this Act shall be in lieu of, and not in addition to, that pension.]
Explanation- In this section, 'Judge' means a Judge who is not a member of the Indian Civil Service or has not held any other 25[pensionable post] under the Union or a State and includes a Judge who being a member of the Indian Civil Service or having held any other 25[pensionable post] under the Union or a State has elected to receive the pension payable under Part I of the First Schedule.
SECTION 15: SPECIAL PROVISION FOR PENSION IN RESPECT OF JUDGES WHO ARE MEMBERS OF SERVICE
28[(1) Every Judge -(a) who is a member of the Indian Civil Service shall, on his retirement, be paid a pension in accordance with the scale and provisions in Part II of the First Schedule;
(b) who is not a member of the Indian Civil Service but has held any other 29[pensionable post] under the Union or a State, shall, on his retirement, be paid a pension in accordance with the scale and provisions in Part III of the First Schedule: Provided that every such Judge shall elect to receive the pension payable to him either under Part I of the First Schedule or, as the case. may be. Part II or Part III of the First Schedule, and the pension payable to him shall be calculated accordingly. 28[(2) notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), any Judge to whom that sub-section applies and who is in service on or after the 1st day of October, 1974, may, if he has elected under the proviso to that sub-section to receive the pension payable to him under Part II or, as the case may be, Part III of the First Schedule before the date on which the High Court Judges (Conditions of Service) Amendment Act, 1976,. receives the assent of the President, cancel such election and elect afresh to receive the pension payable to him under Part I of the First Schedule and any such Judge who dies before the date of such assent shall be deemed to have elected afresh to be governed by the provisions of the said Part I if the provisions of that Part are more favourable in his case.]
SECTION 16: POWER OF PRESIDENT TO ADD TO THE SERVICE FOR PENSION
The President of India may for special reasons direct that any period not exceeding three months shall be added to the service for pension of a Judge : Provided that the period so added shall be disregarded in calculating any additional pension under Part I or Part II or Part III of the First Schedule. .
SECTION 17: EXTRAORDINARY PENSIONS
The rules for the time-being in force with respect to the grant of extraordinary pensions and gratuities in relation to an officer of the Central Civil' Services, Class I, who has entered service on or after the 1st April, 1937, and who may suffer injury or die as a result of violence, shall apply in relation to a Judge, subject, however, to the modification that references in those rules to tables of injury, gratuities and pensions, and of family gratuities and pensions, shall be construed as references to the tables in the Second Schedule.
SECTION 17A: FAMILY PENSIONS AND GRATUITIES
30
31[(1) Where a Judge who, being in service on or after the commencement of the High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Conditions of Service) Amendment Act, 1986, dies, whether before or after retirement in circumstances to which section 17-does not apply, family pension calculated at the rate of 34["fifty per cent of his salary"] on the date of his death shall be payable to the person or persons entitled thereto and the amount so payable shall be paid from the day following the date of death of the Judge for a period of seven years or for a period up to the date on which the Judge would have attained the age of sixty-five years, had he survived, whichever is earlier, 35["and thereafter at the rate of thirty per cent of his salary"] subject to a minimum of 36[twelve hundred and seventy-five rupees] per month]. 37Provided that in no case the amount of family pension calculated under this sub-section shall exceed the pension payable to the Judge under this Act.
Explanation.- For the purposes of determining the person or persons entitled to family pension under this sub - section,-
(i) in relation to a Judge who elects or is eligible to receive pension under Part I of the First Schedule, the rules, notifications and orders for the time being in force with regard to the person or persons entitled to family pension in relation to an officer of the Central Civil Services, Group 'A', shall apply;
(ii) in relation to a Judge who elects to receive pension under Part II or Part III of the First Schedule, the ordinary rules of his service if he had not been appointed a Judge with respect to the person or persons entitled to family pension shall apply and his service as a Judge being treated as service therein.
(2) Where any Judge, who has elected to receive the pension payable to him under Part II or Part III of the First Schedule, retires, or dies in circumstances to which section 17-does not apply, gratuity if any, shall be payable to the person or persons entitled thereto under the ordinary rules or his service if he had not been appointed a Judge, his service as a Judge being treated as service therein for the purpose of calculating that gratuity.]
(3) The rules, notifications and orders for the time being in force with respect to the grant of death-cum-retirement gratuity benefit to or in relation to an officer of the Central Civil Services Class I (including the provisions relating to deductions from pension for the purpose) shall apply to or in relation to the grant or death-cum-retirement gratuity benefit to or in relation to a Judge who, being in service on or after the 1st day of October 1974, retires, or dies in circumstances to which section 17 -does not apply, subject to the modifications that -,
(i) the minimum qualifying service for the purpose of entitlement to the gratuity shall be two years and six months; 33[x x x]
(ii)the amount of gratuity shall be calculated on the basis of38["ten days"]salary for 39["each completed six months period"]of service of judge.
SECTION 18: CONVERSION OF STERLING PENSION INTO RUPEES
Pensions expressed in sterling only shall, if paid in India, be converted into rupees at such rate of exchange as the Central Government may, from time to time, specify in this behalf : 40[ * * * * * *]
SECTION 19: COMMUTATION OF PENSIONS
The Civil Pensions (Commutation) Rules for the time being in force shall, with necessary modifications, apply to Judges.
SECTION 20: PROVIDENT FUND
Every Judge shall be entitled to subscribe to the General Provident Fund (Central Services) : Provided that a Judge who is a member of the Indian Civil Service or has held any other pensionable civil post under the Union or a State shall continue to subscribe to the Provident Fund to which he was subscribing before his appointment as a Judge : Provided further that a Judge who was appointed before the commencement of this Act may continue to subscribe to the Provident Fund to which he was subscribing immediately before such commencement.
SECTION 20A: DEPOSIT LINKED INSURANCE SCHEME
The Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme for the time being in force under the General Provident Fund (Central Services) Rules, 1960, shall apply to every Judge whether he subscribed to the General Provident Fund (Central Services) or any other Provident Fund referred to in section 20-]
SECTION 21: AUTHORITY COMPETENT TO GRANT PENSION
Save as may be otherwise expressly provided in the relevant rules relating to the grant of extraordinary pensions and gratuities, the authority competent to grant pension to a Judge under the provisions of this Act shall be the President of India.
SECTION 22: TRAVELLING ALLOWANCES TO A JUDGE
Every Judge shall receive such reasonable allowances to reimburse him for expenses incurred in travelling on duty within the territory of India and shall be afforded such reasonable facilities in connection with travelling as may, from time to time, be prescribed.
SECTION 22A: FACILITY OF RENT FREE HOUSES
(1) Every Judge shall be entitled without payment of rent to the use of an official residence in accordance with such rules as may from time to time, be made in this behalf.
(2) Where a Judge does not avail himself of the use of an official residence, he may be paid every month an allowance of 44[ten thousand rupees].
SECTION 22B: CONVEYANCE FACILITIES
Every Judge shall be entitled to a staff car and 46two hundred litres of fuel every month or the actual consumption of fuel per month, whichever is less.
SECTION 22C: SUMPTUARY ALLOWANCE
The Chief Justice and each of the other Judges of every High Court shall be entitled to a sumptuary allowance of 47three thousand rupees per month and 48two thousand rupees per month, respectively.]
SECTION 22D: EXEMPTION FROM LIABILITY TO PAY INCOME-TAX ON CERTAIN PERQUISITES RECEIVED BY A JUDGE - Notwithstanding anything contained in the Income-tax Act, 1961,-
(a) the value of rent-free official residence provided to a Judge under sub-section (1) of section 22A-or the allowance paid to him under sub-section (2) of that section;
(b) the value of the conveyance facilities provided to a Judge under section 22B-;
(c) the sumptuary allowance provided to a Judge under section 22C-,
49[(d) the value of leave concession provided to a Judge and members of his family,] shall not be included in the computation of his income chargeable under the head "Salaries" under section 15 of the Income-tax Act, 1961.]
SECTION 23: FACILITIES FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT AND OTHER CONDITIONS OF SERVICE
(1) Every Judge and the members of his family shall be entitled to such facilities for medical treatment and for accommodation in hospitals as may, from time to time, be prescribed.
(2) The conditions of service of a Judge for which no express provision has been made in this Act shall be such as may be determined by rules made under this Act.
(3) This section shall be deemed to have come into force on the 26th January, 1950 and any rule made under this section may be made so as to be retrospective to any date not earlier than the commencement of this section.
SECTION 23A: VACATION OF HIGH COURTS
(1) Every High Court shall have a vacation or vacations for such period or periods as may, from time to time, be fixed by the President, by order notified in this behalf in the Official Gazette, and every such order shall have effect, notwithstanding anything contained in any other law, rule or order regulating the vacation of the High Court.
(2) Every order made under sub-section (1) shall be laid before each House of Parliament.]
SECTION 23B: SPECIAL PROVISIONS IN RESPECT OF CONTINUING JUDGES
(1) In the calculation of the service for pension of a continuing Judge for the purposes of this Act, his previous service for pension as a Chief Justice or as a Judge of a former High Court in a Part B State, under the provisions of the High Court Judges (Part B States) Order, 1953, or any other order or rule then applicable to him, shall be reckoned as service for pension as a Chief Justice or, as the case may be, as a Judge under this Act.
(2) In the calculation of the amount of leave at the credit of a continuing Judge for the purposes of this Act, the amount of leave due to him immediately before the 1st day of November, 1956, under the provisions of the High Court Judges (Part B States) Order, 1953, or any other order or rule then applicable to him, shall be added to the amount of leave at his credit under this Act.
(3) In this section, "continuing Judge" means a Judge of a former High Court in a Part B State who on the 1st day of November, 1956, or on any date subsequent thereto has become or been appointed as a Judge of a High Court for a State.]
SECTION 23C: SPECIAL PROVISIONS IN RESPECT OF JUDGES TRANSFERRED FROM THE HIGH COURT OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR
(1) In the calculation of service for pension of a Judge of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir transferred to any other High Court, his service for pension as a Judge of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir shall also be reckoned as service for pension under this Act.
(2) In the calculation of the amount of leave at the credit of a Judge of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir transferred to any other High Court, the amount of leave due to him as a Judge of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir shall be added to the amount of leave at his credit under this Act.]
SECTION 23D: MEDICAL FACILITIES FOR RETIRED JUDGES
(1) Every retired Judge shall, with effect from the date on which the High Court Judges
(Conditions of Service) Amendment Act, 1976 receives the assent of the President, be entitled, for himself and his family, to the same facilities as respects medical treatment and on the same conditions as a retired officer of the Central Civil Services, Class I, and his family, are entitled under any rules and orders of the Central Government for the time being in force.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) but subject to such conditions and restrictions as the Central Government may impose, a retired Judge of the High Court for a State may avail, for himself and his family, any facilities for medical treatment which the Government of that State may extend to him.]
SECTION 24: POWER TO MAKE RULES
(1) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules55to carry out the purposes of this Act.
(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:--
(a) leave of absence of a Judge;
(b) pension payable to a Judge;
(c) travelling allowances to a Judge;
56[(ca) use of official residence by a Judge under sub-section (1) of section 22A-;]
(d) facilities for medical treatment and other conditions of service of a Judge;
(e) any other m
86540
103860
630
114
59824