In Re: Refixation Of Pension Considering Service Period In District Judiciary And High Court 2025 INSC 726 - HCJ Act
High Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1954 - (i) The Union of India shall pay the full pension of Rs.15,00,000/- per annum to a retired Chief Justice of the High Court; (ii) The Union of India shall pay the full pension of Rs.13,50,000/- per annum to a retired Judge of the High Court, other than a retired Chief Justice of the High Court; (iii) A retired Judge of the High Court shall also include such of the retired Judges of a High Court who have retired as Additional Judge of the High Court; (iv) We direct that the Union of India shall follow the principle of One Rank One Pension to all the retired Judges of the High Courts irrespective of their source of entry i.e., District Judiciary or the Bar, and irrespective of number of years that they have served either as a District Judge or a High Court Judge and all of them shall be paid full pension as aforesaid; (v) In the case of a retired Judge of the High Court who has previously served in the District Judiciary, the Union of India shall pay full pension irrespective of any break-in-service between the date on which he/she retired as a Judge of the District Judiciary and the date on which he/she assumed charge as a Judge of the High Court; (vi) In the case of a retired Judge of the High Court who has previously served in the District Judiciary and who entered into the District Judiciary after the coming into force of the Contributory Pension Scheme or New Pension Scheme (NPS), the Union of India shall pay the full pension. Insofar as his/her contribution under the NPS is concerned, we direct the States to forthwith refund the entire amount contributed by such of the retired Judges of the High Court back to them along with the dividend, if any, accrued thereon. However, the contributions made by the State Governments shall be retained by the respective States along with the dividend, if any, accrued thereon; (vii) The Union of India shall pay family pension to the widow or family members of a Judge of the High Court who dies in harness irrespective of whether such a Judge of the High Court was a Permanent Judge of the High Court or Additional Judge of the High Court; (viii) The Union of India shall pay gratuity to the widow or family members of a Judge of the High Court who dies in harness by adding 10 years period to the period of service undergone by the said Judge irrespective of whether the minimum qualifying service as provided under clause (i) of sub-section (3) of Section 17A of HCJ Act had been completed or not; and (ix) The Union of India shall pay all allowances payable to a retired Judge of a High Court in accordance with the provisions of the HCJ Act and the same shall include Leave Encashment in accordance with Section 4A of HCJ Act, Commutation of Pensions in accordance with Section 19, Provident Fund under Section 20 of the HCJ Act, etc.
Supreme Court directs UoI to pay ₹15L to retired Chief Justices of High Courts and ₹13.5L per annum to retired HC judges as full pension.
— CiteCase 🇮🇳 (@CiteCase) May 19, 2025
It has also directed UoI to follow One Rank One Pension to all the retired Judges of the High Courts irrespective of their source of… https://t.co/y9xFNzu76K pic.twitter.com/wFLzz5fbn6