‘I feel so bad to get my salary during the summer vacation because I know we have not worked then,’ Justice BV Nagarathna has said. As per current projections of seniority, she is billed to become the first woman CJI in the future, for a brief period though.
A Supreme Court judge recently made a very candid admission of a sense of guilt she felt while drawing salary for the court vacations, when judges do not conduct hearings. The admission is startling especially in the light of the undying debate over the very rationale behind the vacations.
The candid remarks by Justice BV Nagarathna came in a moment of personal reflection while invoking ethical issues and refusing to grant back salaries to four civil judges, whose services were terminated by the Madhya Pradesh government on the recommendations of an administrative performance review by the state high court, but later reinstated on the intervention of the Apex court.
Declining to grant the relief of back salaries by invoking the principle of no work, no pay, Justice Nagarathna stated that since the judges did not work during their termination, granting back wages would not be appropriate. “The kind of work judges do… those being reinstated cannot expect back wages. When they did not work as judges, we cannot grant back wages. Our conscience does not permit it,” she remarked.
Her personal admission of guilt was made in the context of this firm stand. “I feel so bad to get my salary during the summer vacation because I know we have not worked then,” Justice Nagarathna shared in the court.
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Prior to this, Senior Advocate Gaurav Agrawal, acting as amicus curiae (or friend of the court – an individual or organisation not a party to a legal case, but appointed by a court to assist it in the case), submitted before the bench comprising Justices BV Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh that the Madhya Pradesh High Court had reinstated four of the six dismissed judges, while the termination of the other two was upheld by the full court of the High Court.
Following this, Senior Advocate R Basant had requested the Court to consider granting back wages for the period the judges were out of service, which was declined.
The matter
The matter pertained to 6 female civil judges appointed to the Judicial Services of the State of Madhya Pradesh whose services were terminated by the Madhya Pradesh government in June 2023. The State government’s decision was preceded by the meeting of the Administrative Committee of the High Court recommending the termination of these judicial officers on account of unsatisfactory performance during their probation period.
The Supreme Court had taken suo motu cognisance of the matter in January this year and during a February hearing the bench had orally asked the High Court whether it was willing to reconsider its decision. In July, the bench again asked the Madhya Pradesh High Court to reexamine its decision and directed that the full court of the High Court take a call on the representations of the affected judges, afresh, within a month.
Pursuant to that, the High Court in its full court meeting held in July decided to reinstate four of the six judges.
In its September 3 order, the SC bench directed the Madhya Pradesh High Court to issue orders promptly to allow the four reinstated judges to rejoin their duties. “These officers will be given continuity in service. The suo motu writ with respect to officers whose termination is upheld will survive, while the suo motu concerning the four who have been inducted back is disposed of,” the Court ordered.
CJI’s recent take on the undying debate over court vacations
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud earlier this year spoke about the continuing debate over the number of vacation days awarded to Indian judges.
In an event in Prayagraj, he was quoted as saying, “All of us are criticised for the vacations we have. They all say, ‘inko chutti bahut jyada milti hai‘ (they get a lot of holidays). People don’t understand that judges work all seven days of the week. Our district judges work every single day, even on Saturdays and Sundays they have to do legal aid camps or they have to do other administrative work.”
However, the debate keeps reemerging from time to time, and Justice BV Nagarathna’s recent admission of a sense of guilt over drawing salaries during the vacation period could be one such trigger.
