All High Court judges entitled to full, equal pension

New Delhi:The Supreme Court on Monday ordered that all High Court judges, including additional judges will be entitled to full pension and retirement benefits. The apex court in its significant verdict said that the former chief justices of the High Court will get Rs 15 lakh per annum as pension.

Applying the principle of “one rank, one pension”, a bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih observed that full pension will be paid to all judges irrespective of when they were appointed and whether they retired as additional judges or were later given permanent posts.

The bench observed that differentiating among judges based on the timing of their appointment or their designation goes against the fundamental right to equality. Delivering the verdict, the Chief Justice of India stated that the families of deceased additional high court judges are entitled to receive the same pension and retirement benefits as those of permanent judges.

No distinction between judges from bar and district judiciary: SC 

The bench noted that it had examined Article 200 of the Constitution, which deals with pensions for retired high court judges.

“We hold any discrimination among (high court) judges for terminal benefits after retirement will be violative of Article 14. Thus, we hold all the high court judges irrespective of when they entered and thus entitled to full pension,” it said.

It further clarified that there should be no distinction between judges elevated from the Bar and those promoted from the district judiciary. The bench also affirmed that judges under the new pension scheme must be given the same benefits.

“We also hold the high court judges who retired as additional judges will get full pension and any distinction between judges and additional judges will be doing to violence to the condition,” the bench said.

“The Union (of India) shall pay a full pension of 13.50 lakh per annum to judges of the high courts, including additional judges,” it added.

(With PTI inputs)