The High Court has asked the Delhi Government for court allowances to its staffers as compensation for the onerous nature of duties they perform. It is on lines of the parliamentary allowances being given to employees of lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats.
Following directions of the Registrar General of Delhi High Court, the law department of Delhi Government has moved a proposal to this effect, which is likely to be brought before the next Cabinet meeting.
last week, Delhi Cabinet forwarded a proposal to Ministries of Home Affairs and Finance for approval. It concerns implementation of a Delhi High Court three-judge committee's recommendations for revision in pay scales and other allowances of judicial officers.
According to the proposal on court allowances, group A official will be entitled to Rs 4,000 per month while group B employees will be entitled to Rs 3,200 per month. Group C employees will get Rs 2,400 per month while Rs 1,600 has been pegged for group D.
The Administrative and General Supervision Committee comprising of Chief Justice and judges of high court had earlier decided that to grant 'court allowance' to officers and officials of high court with effect from January 1, 2006.
Besides, pay structure of Delhi HC employees was not considered by the Sixth Pay Commission. There are 602 employees in Delhi HC and monthly financial implication is estimated around Rs 17,38,400. Noting the proposal of the law department, the Finance department said that Parliament and Delhi HC are different constitutional institutions having different roles and responsibilities and therefore, cannot be compared. Neither are duties of employees of both these institutions comparable.
According to proposal, Registrar General of Delhi High Court responded to finance department apprehensions point by point, saying that pay structure of the high court has not gone into by the Sixth Pay Commission and consequently, there was no question of any recommendation as regards court allowance to its staffers.
"Duties and responsibilities of the Parliament employees and high court employees may be different in nature but by no stretch of imagination can, the duties, functions and responsibilities of the court employees be considered as less arduous or responsible than those of the employees of the Parliament secretariat. The court allowance has been sanctioned in favour of the employees of Delhi HC after due deliberations by a committee, comprising Chief Justice and judges of the high court," said Registrar General of the High Court.