SALARIES AND PENSIONSCentral

Section 17A of The High Court Judges Salaries and Conditions of Service Act, 1954 in hindi

Family pensions and gratuities.

1[17A. Family pensions and gratuities.-- 2[ 3[(1)] Where a Judge who, being in service on or after the the commencement of the High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Conditions of Service) Amendment Act, 1986 (38 of 1986), dies, whether before or after retirement in circumstances to which section 17 does not apply, family pension calculated at the rate of 4[fifty per cent. of his salary] 5*** on the date of his death shall be payable to the person or persons entitled thereto and the amount so payable shall be paid from the day following the date of death of the Judge for a period of seven years or for a period up to the date on which the Judge would have attained the age of sixty-five years, had he survived, whichever is earlier, 6[ 7[and thereafter at the rate of thirty per cent of his salary 8 ***.]] 9[Provided that in no case the amount of family pension calculated under this sub-section shall exceed exceed the pension payable to the Judge under this Act.] Explanation.--For the purposes of determining the person or persons entitled to family pension under this sub-section,--

(i)in relation to a Judge who elects or is eligible to receive pension under Part I of the First Schedule, the rules, notifications and orders for the time being in force with regard to the person or persons entitled to family pension in relation to an officer of the Central Civil Services, Group A, shall apply;
(ii)in relation to a Judge who elects to receive pension under 10*** Part III of the First Schedule, the ordinary rules of his service if he had not been appointed a Judge with respect to the person or persons entitled to family pension shall apply and his service as a Judge being treated as service therein.

(2)Where any Judge, who has elected to receive the pension payable to him under 9*** Part III of the First Schedule, retires, or dies in circumstances to which section 17 does not apply, gratuity, if any, shall be payable to the person or persons entitled thereto under the ordinary rules of his service if he had not been appointed a Judge, his service as a Judge being treated as service therein for the purpose of calculating that gratuity.]
(3)The rules, notifications and orders for the time being in force with respect to the grant of deathcum-retirement gratuity benefit to or in relation to an officer of the Central Civil Services, Class I (including the provisions relating to deductions from pension for the purpose) shall apply to or in relation to the grant of death-cum-retirement gratuity benefit to or in relation to a Judge who, being in service on or after the 1st day of October, 1974, retires, or dies in circumstances to which section 17 does not apply, subject to the modifications that
1. (i)the minimum qualifying service for the purpose of entitlement to the gratuity shall be two years and six months;
2. (ii)the amount of gratuity shall be calculated on the basis of 11[ten days'] salary for 12[each completed six months period] of service as a Judge; 13*** 14* * * * * Explanation.--In 15 [sub-section (3)], the expression Judge has the same meaning as in section 14.]

Summary

This section provides family pensions and gratuities when a Judge dies in normal circumstances, meaning cases where the violence rules of Section 17 do not apply.
It covers Judges who were in service on or after the 1986 amendment act started.
The family pension amount can never be more than the normal pension the Judge themselves would have received.
To get a death-cum-retirement gratuity under this section, the Judge must have served a minimum qualifying time of two years and six months.
The gratuity amount is calculated by giving ten days of salary for each completed six months of service.

Practical examples

1Judge Rajesh died of natural causes at age 60 while still in office. Since Section 17 (violence) did not apply, his widow received a family pension under Section 17A at 50 percent of his final salary. This 50 percent rate continued for five years until the date Rajesh would have turned 65, at which point it reduced to 30 percent.

2Judge Fatima retired after exactly three years of service and later passed away peacefully. Because she had passed the two-year and six-month minimum mark, her family was eligible for the death-cum-retirement gratuity, calculated at ten days of pay for each of her six completed half-years of service.

FAQ

1. When does Section 17A apply instead of Section 17?

Section 17A applies to deaths and retirements in circumstances where Section 17 (which deals with violence and injuries) does not apply.

2. Is there a maximum cap on the family pension?

Yes, the family pension cannot exceed the total pension that the Judge would have been entitled to under this Act.

3. What is the minimum service required for a gratuity payout?

A Judge must have served a minimum qualifying period of two years and six months.

Test yourself

1.Under Section 17A of The High Court Judges Salaries and Conditions of Service Act, 1954, how does this section interact with Section 17?

2.Under Section 17A of The High Court Judges Salaries and Conditions of Service Act, 1954, what is the initial rate of the family pension immediately following the Judge's death?

3.Under Section 17A of The High Court Judges Salaries and Conditions of Service Act, 1954, how does Section 14 limit the family pension provided in this section?

4.Under Section 17A of The High Court Judges Salaries and Conditions of Service Act, 1954, what is the minimum qualifying service required to be entitled to a gratuity?

5.Under Section 17A of The High Court Judges Salaries and Conditions of Service Act, 1954, how is the amount of the gratuity calculated?

6.Under Section 17A of The High Court Judges Salaries and Conditions of Service Act, 1954, when does the initial 50 percent family pension rate drop to 30 percent?

17PreviousSection 17 Extraordinary pensions.17BNextSection 17B Additional quantum of pension or family pension.

←Section 17 Section 17B→