Orissa High Court Formulates SOP For Disbursal Of Enhanced Pay To Judicial Officers

Pursuant to the directions given in All India Judges' Association v. Union of India & Ors., whereby the Supreme Court ordered the State Governments to pay the arrears to judicial officers in terms of enhanced pay scales as per the recommendations of the Second National Judicial Pay Commission (SNJPC), the Acting Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court Dr. Justice Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi had constituted the Committee for Service Conditions of the District Judiciary (CSCDJ).

The CSCDJ has come up with the following Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for proper and effective implementation of the recommendations of the SNJPC including pay, pension, allowances and all allied matters and to facilitate settlement of claims and disbursal of allowances as approved by the Apex Court, including the payment of arrears of salary and pension to judicial officers, pensioners and family pensioners of the State.

1. The State Government in Law Department with concurrence of Finance Department shall come up with the Resolution/Notification as the case may be, within 7 days of receipt of the recommendation of the CSCDJ on each allowance and facilitate for implementation of the recommendations of the SNJPC as accepted by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India.
2. While formulating Resolution/Notification on each allowance, the effective dates, as recommended shall be distinctly mentioned and the major/minor head of Accounts from which the current and arrear claims/allowances be drawn/reimbursed shall be mentioned.
3. For drawal of the arrear salary/allowance/retiral & pensionary benefits within the stipulated dateline as fixed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India, Law Department/Home Department in consultation with Finance Department, Govt. of Odisha shall timely place sufficient funds in appropriate head of accounts at the disposal of respective C.Os, Spl. C.Os, Heads of Department /DDO for the purpose. If required, funds may also be made available by resorting to the process of re-appropriation of available savings with the concerned departments in a time bound manner.
4. The arrear salary/retiral & pensionary benefits, if any, to any serving judicial officer/pensioner/family pensioner has not been disbursed by their respective Heads of Department/DDO as per previous orders of the Hon'ble Supreme Court, it shall be paid with immediate effect and compliance reports be submitted to the Registrar General of the court for onward submission before the Hon'ble Supreme Court.
5. The judicial officer/pensioner/family pensioner shall not be harassed in any form by any authority in the smooth release of their service entitlements including salary & allowance/retiral & pensionary benefits.
6. For smooth disbursement of salary, allowances, arrears and other service and retiral benefits, several Government authorities and judicial officers are designated as 'Nodal Agency'. The Nodal Agencies shall see that the disbursement on account of arrears of salary, pension and allowances due and payable to judicial officers, retired judicial officers and family pensioners shall be computed and paid on or before 29^th February, 2024 as directed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Para. 87 of the Judgment. The Registry of the Court shall prepare the contact details of these Nodal Agencies at the District Level and State Level and upload the SOP in the website of the High Court, together with the details of the nodal officers.
7. The judicial officer/pensioner/family pensioners, if having any, grievance/issues with regards to release of their arrear salary/retiral & pensionary benefits from the side of the concerned Heads of Department/DDO/Treasury shall be brought to the notice of the CSCDJ in writing either through the Nodal Officer of the Committee or the Registrar General of the Court for timely redressal of the same.
8. One permanent grievance redressal cell for the judicial officer/pensioner/family pensioners shall function in the Appointment Section of the Court with such number of Staff as would be decided by the Chief Justice to receive, process only the grievances/issues in the matters of pay, pension, retiral benefits and arrears thereof of the judicial officer/pensioner/family pensioners.
9. The permanent grievance redressal cell shall prepare and maintain a database of retired Judicial Officers and family pensioners of the District Judiciary with a process for periodical updating, at least on a quarterly basis and the same be uploaded in the website of the Court. The Central Project Coordinator (CPC) of the Couft shall provide all technical and IT related support to the cell.