Nod to 30pc pay hike

The government yesterday agreed in principle to implement the Supreme Court (SC) directives to increase wages and allowances of lower court judges.
After detailed discussions, the weekly cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina approved a proposal of the finance ministry on Judicial Service Pay Commission.
The decision came in line with the apex court's directive that the government submit a report before it after complying with the order by April 15.
On March 14, the SC amended a government proposal for increasing the salaries and benefits of the lower court judges. It directed the government to increase the pay-scale of the judicial officials by 30 percent instead of the proposed 20 percent.
“We have accepted the directives of the Supreme Court on the increase of salary of judges,” a senior minister told The Daily Star yesterday preferring not to be named.
The minister hoped the step would ensure more independence of the judiciary.
Cabinet sources said except for a very few other matters, the meeting agreed to accept the directives.
Contacted, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shafique Ahmed suggested talking to Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan to collect information on the issue.
The secretary, however, declined to say anything on it. “I won't say anything until a formal decision comes from the government,” he added.
During the hearing of the Masdar Hossain Case, popularly known as the judiciary separation case, the Appellate Division also directed the government to provide all district judges with selection grade after their five years are completed.
But the government had proposed giving selection grade to only 22 senior district judges across the country.
Earlier on February 28, the SC issued a contempt of court rule against the secretaries of cabinet division, finance, law, and public administration for not implementing its order regarding the salary rise.
On March 14, the court exonerated the secretaries from personal appearance before it for the time being in connection with the rule.
In 2008, the Judicial Service Pay Commission recommended providing the judicial officials additional allowances equivalent to their basic monthly salaries and increasing other amenities.
As the recommendation remained unimplemented, the SC on July 19 last year asked the government to implement it within a month.
The apex court then extended its order several times after the government prayed for more time to execute the order.
The commission had proposed a maximum Tk 40,000 scale for the district judges and equivalent officials and a minimum Tk 16,500 scale for assistant judges and equivalent officials, the SC sources said.
Talking to The Daily Star, barrister Amir Ul Islam, an intervener in the Masdar Hossain case, hoped that the government would fully implement the “awards” for the judicial officials.