Today(on 3rd September),Justice BV Nagarathna expressed her discomfort with receiving a salary during court vacations when judges aren’t holding hearings. Her comments came while addressing the reinstatement of civil judges terminated by the Madhya Pradesh government.
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NEW DELHI: Today(on 3rd September), Justice BV Nagarathna of the Supreme Court expressed her personal discomfort with the judicial salary system, particularly feeling a sense of guilt for receiving her salary during court vacations when judges do not conduct hearings. Her remarks were made in the context of a significant ruling on the reinstatement of civil judges who had been dismissed by the Madhya Pradesh government.
During the proceedings, Justice Nagarathna candidly shared her unease about receiving a salary during periods when the court is on vacation.
“I feel so bad about receiving my salary during the summer vacation because I know we haven’t worked during that time,”
-she remarked.
This reflection by Justice BV Nagarathna occurred while the Supreme Court was deliberating on whether to grant back wages to civil judges who had been terminated from their positions but were later reinstated following an intervention by the apex court.
A Bench consisting of Justices BV Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh examined the case. Senior Advocate Gaurav Agrawal, acting as amicus curiae, informed the court that the Madhya Pradesh High Court had reversed the termination orders for four of the judges. In contrast, the terminations of the other two judges were upheld by the High Court’s full court.
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Senior Advocate R Basant, representing the affected judges, urged the Supreme Court to consider granting back wages for the period during which the judges were out of service. Despite this plea, Justice Nagarathna was firm in her stance that back wages could not be awarded.
“The nature of judicial work means that those being reinstated cannot expect back wages. Since they did not perform their duties as judges during the period of termination, we cannot grant back wages. Our conscience does not allow it,”
-she stated.
In response to the situation, the Supreme Court instructed the Madhya Pradesh High Court to issue orders expeditiously to facilitate the rejoining of duty for the four reinstated officers.
“These officers will have their service continuity maintained. The suo motu writ regarding the officers whose terminations were upheld will remain in effect, while the suo motu concerning the four reinstated officers is concluded,”
-the Court noted.
The Supreme Court first took suo motu cognisance of the termination of six civil judges in January 2024. This action was in response to a decision made by the Madhya Pradesh government in June 2023, which resulted in the dismissal of these judges. The termination was based on the recommendations of an administrative committee, which, after evaluating the judges’ performance during their probationary period, concluded that it was unsatisfactory. This assessment was further endorsed by a full court meeting, leading to the decision to remove the judges from their positions.
During a hearing in February, the Supreme Court Bench inquired whether the Madhya Pradesh High Court would reconsider its decision regarding the termination of the civil judges. Following this, in July, the apex court reiterated its directive for the High Court to reexamine the matter. The Supreme Court specifically ordered the full court of the Madhya Pradesh High Court to review the representations of the affected judges anew, with the expectation that this process would be completed within a month.
Following this, the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s full court meeting decided to reinstate four of the six judges, restoring them to their positions.
