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Former Madras HC judge seeks ‘one rank, one pension’ in judiciary, moves SC

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Justice M. Vijayaraghavan (retd) argues that high court judges promoted from lower courts get lesser pension than judges who previously served as advocates.

New Delhi: A former judge of the Madras High Court has moved the Supreme Court seeking ‘one rank, one pension’ in the judiciary.

Justice (retired) M. Vijayaraghavan has argued that high court judges promoted from a state’s subordinate judiciary are entitled to a lesser pension than a judge who was previously an advocate.

In the three-tier judicial system, lawyers are picked as judges in lower courts, high courts, and the Supreme Court. Pension for district and sessions judges differs from state to state and consequently, there is no parity in pension for high court judges elevated from state judiciary. “When a lower court judge is elevated to the high court, he gets a pension for his tenure as a high court judge. But for a judge who was previously an advocate, an additional 10 years are added to his service years,” advocate R. Balaji said explaining the disparity.

“One rank, one pension must be the norm in respect of a constitutional office. The present formula to calculate pensions for high court judges who come from lower courts is unreasonable, discriminatory and arbitrary,” the former judge argues.

Vijayaraghavan joined the judiciary as a district munsif in 1986 and retired as a judge of the Madras High Court in 2013. He told the court that his annual pension is almost Rs 23,000 lesser than his counterpart’s who was elevated from the bar.

“For the lower judiciary, the formula is pretty straightforward. Pension depends on the number of years served. But the real problem is when lower court judges are elevated to the high court,” said Bharat Bhushan, a retired judge of a Delhi district court.

Currently, the High Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1954 allows Rs 16,020 per annum and a maximum of Rs 4.8 lakh for a completed year of service in lower courts.

The apex court asked the Tamil Nadu government and the central government to file responses.

In 2002, the top court had ruled that for high court judges who were elevated from the bar, 10 additional service years will be added to tenure as judges. It had tweaked the service rules accordingly to recognise the skills developed as a lawyer in the pay-scale.

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