The High Court on Wednesday asked the government to increase the remuneration and other benefits of the Supreme Court judges in accor-
dance with the recommendation made by a parliamentary body in February 2010.
The bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore passed the order in its verdict in a writ petition filed by rights organisation Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh on March 20, 2011.
On February 13, 2010, the parliamentary sub-committee recommended raising the salary of the chief justice to Tk 1 lakh, entertainment allowance to Tk 20,000 and domestic aide allowance to Tk 10,000 per month.
Besides, the chief justice should get judicial allowance of Tk 22,000 a month, the sub-committee recommended.
For the Appellate Division judges, the parliamentary body recommended re-fixing the salary at Tk 90,000, domestic aide allowance Tk 8,000, entertainment allowance Tk 5,000 and judicial allowance at Tk 20,000 per month.
The sub-committee
proposed that basic salary of a High Court judge should be raised to Tk 80,000, entertainment allowance Tk 5,000, domestic aid allowance Tk 5,000 and judicial allowance at Tk 18,000 per month.
The government amended the Supreme Court Judges (Remuneration
and Privileges) Ordi-
nance, 1978 in 2010 increasing the salary and other benefits of the Supreme Court judges.
The amounts of the increased salary and benefits were, however, lower than that which were recommended by the parliamentary body.
The amendment increased the monthly salary for the chief
justice to Tk 56,000 from Tk 30,500, Appellate Division judges to Tk 53,100 from Tk 29,000
and the High Court judges to Tk 47,000 from Tk 27,000.
Three Supreme Court lawyers on behalf of the Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh on March 20, 2011 filed a public interest litigation writ
petition seeking a direction on the government to increase Supreme Court judges' salaries as per the sub-committee's suggestions.
The petitioners' counsel, Manzill Murshid argued that the cabinet approved the new pay scale on
the proposal of the finance ministry defying the
sub-committee's recommendation.
Manzill also argued that the sub-committee recommended increasing of the Supreme Court judges' salaries in considering the basic salaries of the judges of the neighboring countries.
Basic salary of a district judge in Pakistan is Rs 1,20,000 and Rs 50,160 in Sri Lanka, and that of an additional district judge in Pakistan is Rs 78,000 and Rs 46,165 in Sri Lanka. Basic salary of a joint district judge in Pakistan is Rs 48,000 and Rs 39,865 in Sri Lanka, the sub-committee said.
source:New Age
