A bench of CJI Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra expressed displeasure over the issue, saying that no judge can be expected to work without salary.
Chief Justice of the country (CJI) Justice DY Chandrachud on Monday got angry at the Nitish government of Bihar when he was hearing the case of Patna High Court judge Justice Rudra Prakash Mishra not receiving salary for several months. Taking a serious stand on the state government, the bench of Justice Chandrachud gave strict instructions to the Bihar government to open a temporary General Provident Fund (GPF) account for Justice Mishra and release his pending salary.
A bench of CJI Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra expressed displeasure over the issue, saying, “No judge can be expected to work without salary.” Justice Rudra Prakash Mishra was elevated to the Patna High Court from the district judiciary on November 4, 2023. He is not getting his salary from the date of his promotion as he does not have a GPF account, which is a prerequisite for drawing salary as a High Court judge.
Judges of subordinate courts are covered under the New Pension Scheme (NPS) and hence do not have GPF accounts. Justice Mishra was not able to receive his salary as high court judges are not covered under NPS. The bench asked, “Why are they not getting their salaries? What is this? We will pass an interim order to release their salaries.”
The bench said it would direct the Bihar government to open a temporary GPF account for Justice Mishra. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing in the apex court on behalf of the Centre, sought time till Friday and assured the bench that the issue would be resolved by then.