CSCDJ – Committee for Service Conditions of the District Judiciary

The Supreme Court (SC) has recently directed the formation of Committee for Service Conditions of the District Judiciary (CSCDJ) in each High court (HC).

About the Committee for Service Conditions of the District Judiciary (CSCDJ):

• The CSCDJ will be constituted in each HC to oversee the implementation of orders related to pay, pension, and retirement benefits for judicial officers as per the Second National Judicial Pay Commission (SNJPC).
• It comprises of 2 high court judges, Law Secretary or Legal Remembrancer, Registrar General, and a retired judicial officer.
• The registrar general of the HC will be the ex-officio secretary of the panel, which will have a former district judge as its nodal officer.

Roles and Functions:

• It will help develop institutional mechanism for recording concerns related to pay, pension, and service conditions.
• It will consult with Judges’ and Retired Judges’ Associations for inputs.
• It will ensure availability of standard hospitals for every district in consultation with the Health Department.
• It will benchmark empanelment of hospitals and recommend the provision for treatment outside the district if necessary.
• It willconsider the hospitals that are on the Central Government Health Scheme panel for empanelment and provision of cashless treatment to judicial officers as well.

Significance:

• Judicial independence is crucial for citizens’ trust in the rule of law.
• Financial dignity of judges is essential to preserve judicial integrity.

About the Second National Judicial Pay Commission (SNJPC):

• The SNJPC was constituted by the SC in 2017 to recommend concerning the pay, allowances and pension/family pension of Judicial Officers throughout India including that of the Subordinate Judiciary.
• It was constituted aftermath of the case- “All India Judges Association v Union of India & others”.
• The Commission was headed by the Justice P. Venkatarama Reddi, former Judge of Supreme Court of India.

Recommendations of the SNJPC:

• It recommends the establishment of a permanent mechanism for service conditions of district judiciary.
• It has recommended the adoption of higher pay matrix and higher percentage of Selection Grade and Super Time Scale District Judges.
• It has recommended to discontinue the New Pension Scheme (NPS) which is being applied to those entering service during or after 2004.

Certain new allowances viz. children education allowance, home orderly allowances, transport allowance in lieu of pool car facility, have been proposed. 

Ref: Source