Rajya Sabha returns bill seeking to clarify when retired SC, HC judges will receive additional pension
Dec 13, 2021
New Delhi [India], December 13 : The Rajya Sabha on Monday considered and returned 'The High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill 2021' unanimously.
The lawmakers said as it is a money Bill, the Rajya Sabha with a voice vote considered it and returned it.
The Bill clarifies that a person will be entitled to the additional pension or family pension from the first day of the month in which they complete the minimum age under the concerned age bracket.
In his concluding statement, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju accepted almost all the suggestions of the members of the House on the Bill that seeks amendment in The High Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1954 and the Supreme and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1958.
Rijiju said the government has to take up the Bill as an "explanation clause".
Both the High Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1954, and the Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1958 regulate the salaries and conditions of service of the judges of High Courts and the Supreme Court of India.
Under the Acts, all retired judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts and their family members are entitled to pension or family pension. They are also entitled to an additional quantum of pension or family pension when they attain a certain age in accordance with a specified scale. The scale contains five age brackets (with a minimum age of 80, 85, 90, 95, and 100 years), and the additional quantum increases with age (from 20 per cent to 100 per cent of the pension or family pension).
The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on December 8.
Meanwhile, the winter session of the Parliament commenced on November 29 and is scheduled to conclude on December 23.
