Govt to hike pay of SC and HC judges

The UPA Government has decided to present a new year gift by giving an almost three-fold increase in pay to the judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts.According to the Law Ministry sources, the Union Government had decided to bring in an ordinance since Parliament is not in session for this purpose.Under this proposal, Chief Justice of India will get a salary of Rs 1 lakh while Supreme Court judges and Chief Justices of High Courts could draw Rs 90,000 per month.At present, the CJI is getting about Rs 35,000 while Supreme Court judges and Chief Justices of High Courts are drawing a salary of Rs 30,000 per month.The ordinance will be valid for six months. The budget session of Parliament will start in February next year and the Cabinet is most likely to introduce the Bill for enhancing the salary of judges of the superior courts in the budget session.It is mandatory to get the bill approved for raising the salary of Supreme Court and High Court judges.The judges have been demanding a pay hike for a long time. The Cabinet had approved the Bill for the pay hike of the judges in July this year.UNI