Supreme Court orders for payment of salaries to Patna High Court judges Shailendra Singh, Arun Kumar Jha, Jitendra Kumar, Alok Kumar, Sunil Dutta Mishra, Chandra Prakash Singh and Chandra Shekhar Jha

In Justice Shailendra Singh v Union of India, the Chief Justice headed 3-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court directed that "The salaries of the petitioners which have been withheld, shall be released to them on the basis of the position as it obtained prior to the letter dated 13 December 2022 of the Union Ministry of Law and Justice." This order brought relief to the seven judges of the Patna High Court, namely, Justices Shailendra Singh, Arun Kumar Jha, Jitendra Kumar, Alok Kumar, Sunil Dutta Mishra, Chandra Prakash Singh and Chandra Shekhar Jha. (Photo: Justice Shailendra Singh)

Prior to their elevation to the High Court from the State Judicial Service, these judges were covered by the National Pension Scheme (NPS). Later, their NPS contributions were transferred to the GPF accounts given to them after their appointment as High Court judges. 

Earlier, on February 4, 2023, the Chief Justice headed bench of Supreme Court had issued notice and passed an order that recorded that  Mr K M Nataraj, Additional Solicitor General appears on behalf of the respondents. Having due regard to the fact that the petition impinges upon the conditions of service of Judges of the High Court, who have been recruited from the district judiciary, K M Nataraj, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) fairly states that he would have the matter duly looked into at the appropriate level of the Government of India so that this Court can be informed on the next date of hearing of the decision which has been taken to remedy the grievance. 

Senior Advocate K.V. Vishwanathan and Advocate Prem Prakash, AOR appeared for the petitioners. The respondents were represented by K.M. Nataraj, ASG.  The case will be heard again on March 27 2023.