The Central government on Friday amended the Supreme Court Judges Rules for the second time this week to provide a domestic help, a chauffeur and a secretarial assistant to retired chief justices of India and Supreme Court judges for their entire lifetime, Live Law reported.
The rules were changed on a day when Justice NV Ramana retired as the chief justice.
The rules were earlier amended by the Ministry of Law and Justice on August 23, allowing retired chief justices and Supreme Court judges a chauffeur, secretarial assistant and security cover round the clock at their residence for a year. The rules did not mention domestic help, who would be an employee in the level of junior court attendant.
With the latest amendments, the benefit of 24-hour security cover has been extended for a period of five years for former chief justices and three years for retired Supreme Court judges from the date of their retirement.
A retired chief justice of India will also be entitled to a rent-free Type VII accommodation in Delhi, other than the designated official residence, for six months after retirement.
The amended regulations added that retired chief justices and judges should be extended courtesies according to the protocol at ceremonial lounges of airports.
“A retired chief justice or a retired Supreme Court judge shall be entitled to a residential telephone free of cost and reimbursement of telephone call charges of residential telephone or mobile phone or broadband or mobile data or data card not exceeding Rs 4,200 per month, plus taxes,” the rules stated.
The notification issued on Friday, however, said that these post-retirement benefits would be given to those who were not getting similar facilities from any High Court or government body.
The expenditure on domestic help, chauffeur, secretarial assistant and telephone reimbursement will be borne largely by the Supreme Court or a High Court establishment, PTI reported.
Prior to this, former chief justice and Supreme Court judges were given monthly monetary benefits to hire a guard, domestic help and chauffeur. While a retired chief justice were given Rs 70,000 per month for the purpose, retired Supreme Court judges were provided Rs 39,000 per month.
‘They now decide if free food to poor is a freebie’
On Saturday, Senior Advocate Prashant Bhushan wrote on Twitter that the amendments to the Supreme Court Judges Rules were the “best example[s] of a freebie”.
Over the past few weeks, the Supreme Court has held hearings on a public interest litigation filed by a Bharatiya Janata Party leader asking to outlaw the “promise of irrational freebies” and “private goods” made by political parties during election campaigns in order to “lure voters in their favour”.
Several political parties have argued during hearings that these are not “freebies” but social welfare benefits extended to citizens.
Trinamool Congress MP Jawhar Sircar on Sunday asked if these provisions given to retired chief justice and Supreme Court judges could be called “freebies”.
“Supreme Court judges never found time to decide whether UAPA can arrest anyone without warrant or if Citizenship Act is discriminatory,” he wrote on Twitter. “They now decide if free food to poor is a freebie.”
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