- Development follows passage of bill on increasing number of judges in apex and IHC
- Law Minister asserts move aimed at tackling backlog of cases in superior judiciary
ISLAMABAD: After raising the number of judges in the Supreme Court and Islamabad High Court (IHC), the federal government on Wednesday notified increased in the salaries and allowances of superior judiciary judges ‘exponentially’.
The development follows the passage of the Supreme Court Number of Judges (Amendment) Bill, 2024, bulldozed through the parliament, seeking to increase the sanctioned strength of Supreme Court judges up to 34.
The Ministry of Law and Justice issued a notification in this regard after approval by Acting President Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani.
According to the notification, the government has raised the house rent of Supreme Court judges ‘manifold’ from Rs68,000 to Rs350,000.
It reads: “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 apex court’s 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 said.
Likewise, the government also increased the house rent and judicial allowances of the high court judges.
According to the notification, the house rent of IHC judges has been increased from Rs65,000 to Rs350,000, and the judicial allowance increased from Rs342,431 to Rs1,090,434.
According to the Supreme Court Number of Judges (Amendment) Bill, “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.
“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.”
Earlier, while speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar highlighted salient features of the bill, saying that under the amendment bill, the number of judges may be increased up to 34.
He explained that this move aimed at tackling the backlog of cases at the apex court and emphasised that the number of judges can be adjusted over time-based requirements.
In July, the government sought to appoint five ad hoc judges in the apex court, but only two retired judges — Justice (r) Tariq Masood and Justice (r) Mazhar Alam Miankhel accepted the offer and subsequently, were appointed as ad hoc judges in the SC for a period of one year to in a bid to reduce pendency of the cases.
