Constitution of India, Article 217(2)(a), 221(2) – High Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act 1954, Section 2(1)(g), 2(1)(h), 14, 14A, 15, Part I of the Schedule – Service Law – Pensionary benefits to High Court Judge – Appointment from members Judicial Services – Break in service -Section 14 applies to a Judge who has not held any pensionable post either in the Union or the State or a person who having held a pensionable post has opted to receive pension under Part I of the Schedule – A Judge such as the first respondent who has not opted to receive the benefits of pension under Part I of the First Schedule would fall outside the purview of the Explanation and, hence Section 14 would have no application – The post-retiral pension to such a Judge would, therefore, be governed by Section15 read with paragraph 2 of Part III of the Act – Upon electing to receive pension under Part III of the First Schedule, the first respondent was entitled to have the years of service which were rendered by her as a Judge of the High Court cumulated with the years of service rendered as a member of the district judiciary -Paragraph 2 (a) or any other provision of the Act does not indicate that a break in service such as the one in the service of the firs respondent would make paragraph 2 inapplicable and disentitle such a Judge from adding their service as a High Court Judge to their service as a District Judge for the purpose of calculating their pension – Further, the break in service was attributable to the time taken in processing the recommendation made in her favour – Held that the first respondent was entitled to the addition of the period during which she served as a Judge of the High Court to be added to the length of her service as a member of the district judiciary from 11May 1981 to 31 July 2014 – The break in her service must necessarily have no adverse implications in computing her pension for the simple reason that her service upon appointment as a High Court Judge was in pursuance of are commendation which was made during her tenure as a Judge of the district judiciary – The pensionary payments shall be computed on the basis of her last drawn salary as a Judge of the High Court – The arrears of pension shall be payable to the first respondent on or before 31 March 2024 together with interest at the rate of 6%per annum. (Para 26, 27, 31 and 32)
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
2024 STPL(Web) 216 SC
[2024 INSC 219]
Union Of India, Ministry Of Law & Justice Vs. Justice (Retd) Raj Rahul Garg (Raj Rani Jain) And Others
Civil Appeal No 4272 of 2024 (Arising out of SLP (C) No 7246 of 2019)-Decided on 15-3-2024
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
2024 STPL(Web) 216 SC
[2024 INSC 219]
Union Of India, Ministry Of Law & Justice Vs. Justice (Retd) Raj Rahul Garg (Raj Rani Jain) And Others
Civil Appeal No 4272 of 2024 (Arising out of SLP (C) No 7246 of 2019)-Decided on 15-3-2024
https://stpllaw.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-STPLWeb-216-SC.pdf
