Salaries of SC, HC judges to increase three-fold

The salaries of judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts are set to rise three-fold with the Parliament approving a bill in this regard today.The High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, 2008 was passed by Rajya Sabha. It was approved by the Lok Sabha last week.The bill proposes to increase the salary of the Chief Justice of India from Rs 33,000 to Rs 1 lakh per month and that of other apex court judges from Rs 30,000 to Rs 90,000 per month.It seeks to increase the salary of the Chief Justice of High Courts from Rs 30,000 to Rs 90,000 per month and that of the HC judges from Rs 26,000 to Rs 80,000 per month.Replying to the debate on the bill, Law Minister H R Bhardwaj said the services of judges should not be measured in terms of salary they receive.He also said the Sixth Pay Commission made new provisions for the salary and allowances of civil servants and that the salary of judges needs to be revised accordingly."This is a nominal increase considering the dignity of the office of judiciary. This is a token increase after the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations," he said.Initiating the debate, Arun Jaitley (BJP) said that he supported the Bill but wanted changes in the appointment procedure of the judges and also a system to look into the allegations of misdemeanour by judges as "impeachment is used in the rarest of rare cases".