The Central government on Saturday amended the Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1958, the second time in less than four days, increasing the ambit of post-retirement benefits to the retired Chief Justice of India, as well as Judges of the Supreme Court.
As per the amended Act, a retired CJI will now be entitled to a domestic help, chauffeur and Secretarial Assistant for lifetime, besides having a round-the-clock security cover at the residence, in addition to round-the-clock personal security guard, for five years after retirement.
The following staff shall be deployed with a retired Supreme Court judge during his lifetime:
(a) domestic help
(b) chauffeur
Besides, a retired CJI or a retired Judge of the Apex Court shall be entitled to protocol to extend courtesies at ceremonial lounges at airports.
Earlier on August 23, the Union government had amended the Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1958, providing additional post-retirement benefits to the retired Chief Justices and Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts.
As per the notification issued by the Government of India on Tuesday, Judges retiring from the Supreme Court were entitled to rent free Type-VIl accommodation at Delhi (other than the designated official residence) for a period of six months from the date of retirement.
Besides, they were entitled to security cover round-the-clock at their residence, in addition to a personal security guard 24X7, for a period of one year from the date of retirement.
The retired Judges were also entitled to a chauffer and a secretarial assistant for one year after retirement.
Following the notification, a proviso was added to Rule 3B(3) of the Supreme Court Judges Rules, 1959.
As per the new proviso, “The following staff shall be deployed with a retired Chief Justice and a retired Judge of Supreme Court for a period of one year from the date of retirement from the establishment of Supreme Court or a High Court with full pay and allowances admissible to regular employees of Supreme Court-
a) chauffeur (equivalent to the level of Chauffer in the Supreme Court).
b) secretarial assistant (equivalent to the level of the Branch Officer in the Supreme Court).”
In Rule 4, the following proviso was inserted:
“A retired Chief Justice shall be entitled to a rent free Type-VIl accommodation at Delhi (other than the designated official residence) for a period of six month from the date of retirement.”
Further, Rule 5A was also inserted, entitling a retired Chief Justice or a retired judge to protocol to extend courtesies at ceremonial lounges at airports.
