ISLAMABAD: Days after parliament passed bill raising sanctioned strength of Supreme Court and Islamabad High Court judges, the federal government significantly increased the salaries and allowances of superior judiciary judges.
According to the notification issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice, the house rent of Supreme Court judges has been increased from Rs68,000 to Rs350,000.
“In the Supreme Court Judges (Leave, Pension and Privileges) Order, 1997, hereinafter referred to as the said Order, in paragraph 20, in sub-paragrapgh (2), for the words "sixty eight thousand", the words "three hundred fifty thousand" shall be substituted.
Similarly, the superior judicial allowance of the judges has also been increased from Rs428,040 to Rs1,161,163.
“In the said Order, in paragraph 22, for the words 'four hundred twenty-eight thousand forty', the words 'one million one hundred sixty-one thousand one hundred sixty-three' shall be substituted."
The notification was issued after approval by Acting President Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani.
Likewise, the government also increased the house rent and judicial allowances of the high court judges as well.
According to the notification, the house rent has been increased from Rs65,000 to Rs350,000, while the judicial allowance increased from Rs342,431 to Rs1,090,434.
The development came days after the parliament bulldozed the Supreme Court Number of Judges (Amendment) Bill, 2024, seeking an increase in the sanctioned strength of Supreme Court judges up to 34.
According to the statement of objects and reasons, “the number of Judges in the Supreme Court of Pakistan Court is to be fixed under the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1997 [...] The number of Judges of the Supreme Court is sixteen plus one Chief Justice. In view of the consistent increase in the litigation in Pakistan and budging pendency, it is necessary that the number of Judges in the Supreme Court shall be increased.”
“In light of the above, it is proposed to increase the number of judges in the Supreme Court from sixteen to thirty-three, in addition to the Chief Justice,” it added.
Highlighting the salient features of the bill, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar — while speaking on the floor of the lower house — had said under the amendment bill, the number of judges may be increased up to 34.
He explained that this move aimed to tackle the backlog of cases at the apex court and emphasised that the number of judges can be adjusted over time-based requirements.
“This amendment will increase the number of judges in the Supreme Court up to 34, so that the backlog of cases can be cleared, and that after the 26th Amendment, we can have judges to form the constitutional benches.”
It is noteworthy to mention here that in a bid to reduce pendency of the cases, two retired judges — Justice (retd) Tariq Masood and Justice (retd) Mazhar Alam Miankhel — had been appointed as ad hoc judges to the apex court for a period of one year in July.
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