A proposal by the Supreme Court for raising emoluments given to judges of the Supreme Court and high courts, commensurate with the recent hike in pay for central government staff has been accepted by the government.

The Chief Justice of India (CJI) is the highest-paid functionary in the judiciary with his current monthly emoluments at Rs 1 lakh, excluding dearness and other allowances.

According to a report in the Times of India, this is likely to be raised to Rs 2.8 lakh, in addition to perks such as official residence, cars, staff and allowances as applicable.

According to the TOI report, the government has pegged the salaries of the chief justices of HCs and SC judges at Rs 2.5 lakh per month, in addition to allowances, at the level of the cabinet secretary, the service chiefs and some constitutional functionaries such as the CAG and the CEC. The salary of an HC judge has been pegged at Rs 2.25 lakh per month, same as that of secretary-level officers in the central government.