Chinmaya IAS Academy – Current Affairs Chinmaya IAS Academy – Current Affairs
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Attorney-General wants salaries of SC, HC judges doubled or tripled and retirement age raised Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on Monday called the Indian judiciary the “most robust in the world”. The outgoing Chief Justice’s declaration, in his farewell speech a day before he retires, comes even as Attorney-General K.K. Venugopal, the top-most law officer of the government, rued how the salaries of Supreme Court and High Court judges were “far below what an average lawyer earns”. Mr. Venugopal said it was “not easy to get good judges”. “Salary should be doubled or tripled if we want good judges,” he said. Why should well-earning lawyers give up their legal practice to join the Bench, Mr. Venugopal asked. “In Singapore, one million Singapore dollars are paid to judges of the Supreme Court. We do not want something extravagant, but they should have some relationship to what an average lawyer earns.” He pointed out what might go through the mind of a lawyer who was invited to be a judge. “Some of them may think that all the lawyers are sending their children abroad, so why should we also not be able to do it. And if we are unable to do it, why should we give up our practice,” Mr. Venugopal said. The Attorney-General vociferously argued for increasing the retirement age of Supreme Court and High Court judges, asking whether judges who decide complex legal issues would find their “brains clogged” at the age of 62 and 65. Vikas Singh, Supreme Court Bar Association president and senior advocate, agreed with Mr. Venugopal. He suggested that “we should provide for full salary for the life time of the judge, so that when he is nearing retirement, he does not have to worry.” This would perhaps ward off the “retirement blues”.
