ALL INDIA JUDGES ASSOCIATION STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH SHAMSHER BAHADUR SINGH Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These review petitions have been filed by the Union of India and various States raising general objections as well as objections to the specific directions given by this Court vide our judgment dated 13th November, 1991* to improve the service conditions of the members of the subordinate judiciary in the country. The general objections which are common in all the petitions may be summarised as follows :

(2.) To the specific directions given by this Court, the objections are as follows :

(3.) To put it shortly, the thrust of the general objections is that the power to prescribe service conditions is vested in the executive and the legislature. The service conditions are a matter of policy and have to be prescribed by taking into consideration the comparative utility of the service, the nature and the quality of the work, the overall availability of the resources, the priorities for allocation of funds etc. It is thus an exclusive function of the executive and the legislature, and the scheme of the devolution of the power envisaged by the Constitution has been deviated from to the extent this Court has by the directions in question prescribed the conditions of service. It has thus impinged upon the field exclusively assigned by the Constitution to the executive and the legislature. There is further nothing distinguishable about the judicial work, and if the directions given by this Court are followed, the other services may demand similar service conditions. That would place a very heavy financial burden on the public exchequer. It is also contended that the financial resources oil all the States are not equal and some of the States would be unable to bear the financial burden that is bound to result from the implementation of the directions. What is more, the conditions of work and of employment of the judicial officers differ from State to State. Hence, uniform conditions of service and particularly of pay-scales and of the retirement age are not warranted.