PRELIMINARYCentral

Section 2 of The High Court Judges Salaries and Conditions of Service Act, 1954

Definitions.

(1)In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,
1. (a)"acting Chief Justice" means a Judge appointed under article 223 of the Constitution to perform the duties of the Chief Justice;
2. (b)"acting Judge" means a person 1*** appointed to act as a Judge 2*** 3[under clause (2) of article 224 of the Constitution];
3. (c)"actual service" includes
  1. (i)time spent by a Judge on duty as a Judge or in the performance of such other functions as he may, at the request of the President of India, undertake to discharge;
  2. (ii)vacations, excluding any time during which the Judge is absent on leave;
  3. (iii)Joining time on transfer from a High Court to the Supreme Court or from one High Court to another or from the Supreme Court to a High Court;
  4. (iv)time spent by a Judge on duty as a Judge of a former Indian High Court;
  5. (v)time spent by a Judge to attend the sittings of the Supreme Court as an ad hoc Judge under article 127 of the Constitution; and
  6. (vi)vacation (excluding any time during which the Judge was absent on leave) taken by a Judge as a Judge of a former Indian High Court;br
4. (d)"additional Judge" means a person 1*** appointed as an additional Judge 4*** 5[under clause (1) of article 224 of the Constitution]; 6* * * * *
5. (f)"High Court" means a High Court 7[for a State] and includes a High Court which was exercising Jurisdiction 8[in a Part A State or] in the corresponding Province before the commencement of the Constitution;
6. (g)"Judge" means a Judge of a High Court and includes the Chief Justice 9[an acting Chief Justice, an additional Judge and an acting Judge of the High Court]; 10[(gg) "pension" means a pension of any kind whatsoever payable to or in respect of a Judge, and includes any gratuity or other sum or sums so payable by way of death or retirement benefits;]
7. (h)service for pension includes
  1. (i)actual service; 11[(ii) the amount, actually taken, of each period of leave on full allowances at a rate equal to the monthly rate of the salary;]
  2. (iii)joining time on return from leave out of India;
  3. (i)"prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act.
(2)In the calculation of service for the purposes of this Act, 12[service for any period or periods as acting Judge or additional Judge] shall be reckoned as service as a Judge but, save as otherwise expressly provided, previous service as an acting Chief Justice shall not be reckoned as service as Chief Justice. 13* * * * *

Summary

This section defines key terms used throughout the law so their meanings are consistent.
It lists what counts as actual service, such as time spent on duty, joining time during transfers, and time working as a Supreme Court judge on a temporary basis.
It defines a judge to include an acting Chief Justice, an additional judge, and an acting judge.
It explains that time served as an acting or additional judge counts as regular judge service for calculating benefits.
It clarifies that time served as an acting Chief Justice does not count as Chief Justice service unless the law specifically says otherwise.

Practical examples

1Justice Sharma worked as an acting judge for two years before becoming a permanent judge. When she retires, her two years as an acting judge are added to her total service for calculating her pension.

2Justice Gupta spends two weeks traveling to move from the Bombay High Court to the Delhi High Court. This joining time is counted as actual service.

3Justice Iyer acts as the Chief Justice for six months while the permanent Chief Justice is sick. Unless a specific rule says otherwise, this six-month period does not give him the higher pension benefits of a permanent Chief Justice.

FAQ

1. Does vacation time count as actual service?

Yes, vacations count as actual service, but any time the judge is absent on leave during that vacation is excluded.

2. What is included in the definition of a pension?

A pension includes any kind of pension payable to the judge, as well as any gratuity or death and retirement benefits.

3. Does joining time during a transfer count as actual service?

Yes, joining time when transferring between High Courts or to the Supreme Court counts as actual service.

Test yourself

1.Under Section 2 of The High Court Judges Salaries and Conditions of Service Act, 1954, how is time spent as an acting Chief Justice generally treated when calculating service?

2.Under Section 2 of The High Court Judges Salaries and Conditions of Service Act, 1954, which of the following periods is included in a judge's actual service?

3.Under Section 2 of The High Court Judges Salaries and Conditions of Service Act, 1954, who among the following is explicitly included in the definition of a judge?

4.Under Section 2 of The High Court Judges Salaries and Conditions of Service Act, 1954, what periods of leave count towards service for pension?

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