Supreme Court issues notice on pending salary of Patna HC judge

Srinagar, Jan 13: The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice in a writ petition concerning the release of the salary of the sitting Patna High Court Judge, Justice Rudra Prakash Mishra. The Court sought a response from the Registrar General of the Patna High Court for the same, said a report by Live Law.

According to the report, the bench comprising the Chief Justice, DY Chandrchud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra were apprised of the fact that Justice Rudra Mishra was yet to be allotted a General Provident Fund (GPF) since his elevation in November 2023 from the higher judicial services to the High Court though he has completed all the formalities.

As he was not provided with a GPF to date, this has led to him facing financial hurdles in receiving his salary as an incumbent High Court Judge. “It was further the contention of the petitioner that he is not governed by the New Pension Scheme and that in his case S.15(1)(b) of the High Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1954 would prevail over S.20 of the said Act of 1954. S.20 provides that every judge be entitled to subscribe to the GPF unless that judge has already held any other pensionable civil post under the Union or a State, in which case he/she may continue to subscribe to the PF to which was subscribing before his appointment as a judge.”