SC recommends setting up two-member panel in all HCs for implementation of SNJPC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday said it has recommended setting up a two-judge panel in all high courts to ensure that the orders on pay, pension and other retiral benefits for judicial officers as per the Second National Judicial Pay Commission are implemented.

Serving and former judicial officers will also get cashless facilities for their medical examination, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud said.

Observing that the judgment on the issue is ready and will be pronounced soon, the bench, also comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra, said it has accepted the recommendations of the Second National Judicial Pay Commission (SNJPC).

The SNJPC recommendations cover pay structure, pension and family pension and allowances, besides dealing with the issue of establishing a permanent mechanism to determine subjects of service conditions of the district judiciary.

Giving certain details of the judgment, which is yet to be pronounced, the CJI said every high court will have a two-person committee, comprising high court judges, including one who is elevated from the district judiciary, to deal with SNJPC-related issues and other grievances of serving and former judicial officers.

The registrar general of the high court will be the ex-officio secretary of the panel, which will have a former district judge as its nodal officer, he said.

"The senior-most high court judge, nominated by the chief justice of the high court, will be the chairperson of the committee. The function of the committee will be to see proper implementation of SNJPC...," the CJI said.

The bench took note of the submissions that certain hospitals, which are empanelled in Uttar Pradesh for providing cashless treatment to judicial officers, are sub-standard.

It said the hospitals that are on the Central Government Health Scheme panel can be considered for empanelment for providing cashless treatment to judicial officers as well.

The CJI said judicial officers will be permitted to get the benefit of cashless treatment in empanelled hospitals outside their native district if the local one lacks the requisite facilities to treat a particular ailment.

"The committee will be at liberty to direct incidental measures such as in cases where officers of the state who are serving outside the state and the committee can then consider empanelment of hospitals outside the state. The committee is also at liberty to implement the schemes in consultation with the health secretary of the state. We have institutionalised the system," Chief Justice Chandrachud said.

"The devil is in the fine print, we are now leaving it to the high courts to look into this," the CJI said, adding that the high court committees will be at liberty to prescribe the benchmark for the empanelment of hospitals.

The high court committees will have to file reports to the top court through the respective registrar generals on April 7 on the status of implementation of SNJPC.

The court was hearing a plea filed by the All India Judges Association and others on pay and service conditions of judicial officers.

On November 23, the bench granted a last opportunity to the defaulting states and Union Territories to clear the salary arrears and other dues of district court judges, in accordance with the SNJPC recommendations.

The bench had said the state is under obligation to ensure that judicial officers have dignified conditions of work and it cannot cite scarce resources to deny them human dignity after retirement.