Q. With reference to the comparison between the judge of the Supreme Court and the High Court, consider the following statements:
1. While judge appointed to the Supreme Court should be a citizen of India, no such condition is required for appointment of judge to High Court.
2. No ‘distinguished jurist’ has been appointed as a judge of Supreme Court so far.
3. The salaries of judges of both Supreme Court and High Courts are charged on the Consolidated Fund of India.
How many statements given above are correct?
Exp) Option a is the correct answer.
India follows a single integrated judicial system with Supreme Court as the apex court and the high court operating below the Supreme Court.
Statement 1 is incorrect: A person to be appointed as a judge of either the Supreme Court or the High Court should be a citizen of India. Thus, it is also a mandatory condition for appointment of judges to High Courts.
Statement 2 is correct: A distinguished jurist in the opinion of the President can only be appointed as the judge of the Supreme Court. There are three categories of persons who are qualified to be appointed as judges of the Supreme Court. These are: judges of the High Courts, advocates with at least 10 years of experience in the High Courts, and distinguished jurists. In its 71 years of existence, the Supreme Court has not seen a single ‘distinguished jurist’ appointed as one of its judges.
Statement 3 is incorrect: Only salaries, allowances and pensions of the judges and the staff as well as all the administrative expenses of the Supreme Court are charged on the Consolidated Fund of India. Thus, they are nonvotable by the Parliament (though they can be discussed by it). The salaries and allowances of the judges, the salaries, allowances and pensions of the staff as well as the administrative expenses of a high court are charged on the consolidated fund of the state. Thus, they are non-votable by the state legislature (though they can be discussed by it). However, the pension of a high court judge is charged on the Consolidated Fund of India and not the state.
