"No Judge Expected To Work Without Salary": Supreme Court Directs Bihar Govt To Release Pay Arrears Of Sitting HC Judge

The Supreme Court on Monday (September 30) directed the State of Bihar to immediately release the salary of sitting Patna High Court Judge, Justice RP Mishra, who had pending arears since the date of his elevation to High Court. 

The Court passed the interim order considering the urgency as "no judge should be expected to work without a salary.."

The bench comprising the Chief Justice, DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra was hearing the batch of matters relating to the pending release of salaries of Patna High Court Judges as well as the issue on the fixation of pensions for judicial officers.  

During the hearing, the Court was apprised that Justice Rudra Prakash Mishra was yet to be allotted a General Provident Fund (GPF) since his elevation in November 2023 from the higher judicial services to the High Court though he has completed all the formalities concerning the same. The Judge had not received his salary up till now since the date of his elevation. 

Taking serious note of the same, the CJI question the approach of the Patna High Court

"Why is Justice RP Mishra's salary not yet released? Why are they denying him salary? People like him appointed in HC will get services like all other HC judges."  

The bench noted that though Justice Mishra was governed under the New Pension Scheme when he was serving the District Judiciary, but upon elevation to High Court, he will be governed by service conditions on parity with other High Court Judges. Stressing the impending need to remunerate the judge, the Court directed the State Government to release the salary of Justice Mishra along with the arears which are due. 

"While the judge was governed by NPS as district judiciary judge, once he stands appointed as the judge of the High Court, he will be governed at par with all HC judges by the same terms of conditions of service."

"At this stage, prima facie an interim order would be required since no judge should be expected to work without a salary. We direct that the salary withheld shall be released to him by Bihar Govt. inclusive of all arrears. A temporary GPF account may be opened in the name of Justice RP Mishra. These directions shall be abided by the further directions that may be issued or by the final result of the petition as the case maybe."  

In March 2023, the Apex Court in similar interim measure, directed the release of the salaries of seven judges of the Patna High Court which had been withheld following the closing of their GPF accounts. The plea claiming that the General Provident Fund accounts of the seven judges had been closed was heard by a bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha, and Justice JB Pardiwala.

The petitioners, whose GPF accounts have been stopped are seven judges of the Patna High Court. The High Court judges include Justices Shailendra Singh, Arun Kumar Jha, Jitendra Kumar, Alok Kumar, Sunil Dutta Mishra, Chandra Prakash Singh and Chandra Shekhar Jha. Before their elevation to the High Court from the State Judicial Service, they were covered by the National Pension Scheme. The complication apparently arose after the NPS contributions were transferred to the GPF accounts given to them after their appointment as High Court judges. The accountant general sought a clarification from the Ministry of Law and Justice regarding the legality of transferring NPS contributions to GPF accounts.

The bench will now hear the matter on Thursday. 

Case Title: Justice Shailendra Singh And Ors. v. UoI And Ors. WP(C) No. 232/2023 and connected matters