Tripura HC asks govt to pay remuneration to judge who served as chairman of NSA Advisory Board

Justice Alok Baran Pal had also served as the president of the State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission (CDRC) from July 1, 2008 to July 15, 2017 and as the chairman of the Police Accountability Commission (PAC) from July 16, 2011 to January 31, 2016.

The order was issued by Justice Subhashish Talapatra in response to a petition filed by retired Justice Pal this year. (File)

Four years after Justice Alok Baran Pal retired as the chairman of the NSA Advisory Board, the Tripura High Court asked the state government to pay remuneration at the rate of the salary of a High Court judge minus the pension during the period the petitioner held the post of the board along with other benefits.

The order was issued by Justice Subhashish Talapatra in response to a petition filed by retired Justice Pal this year. The High Court heard his petition complaining against deprivation and discrimination and issued an order on April 25 saying that the due remuneration should be paid within the next three months.

Pal had said in his petition that he was appointed as the chairman of the NSA Advisory Board in 2008 and had continued in the post till November 30, 2018. He also served as the president of the State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission (CDRC) from July 1, 2008 to July 15, 2017 and as the chairman of the Police Accountability Commission (PAC) from July 16, 2011 to January 31, 2016.

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Paul used to get remuneration for the posts of PAC chairman and CDRC president but didn’t get remuneration for being the chairman of the NSA Advisory Board and had written to the state government in 2018.

The government later said that he would be given Rs 5,000 remuneration per month for the duration of his chairmanship of the advisory board.

Aggrieved by the decision, he cited the precedent of retired Gauhati High Court judge M L Singhal who served a similar position and later received the pay of a High Court judge minus the pension plus other admissible allowances as per a formula adopted in his case.

Advocate D Bhattacharjee, representing the Tripura government, had told the court that the petitioner had other assigned responsibilities besides NSA Advisory Board and the question of paying a separate remuneration does not arise and even the petitioner didn’t say anything about it before the reconstitution of the advisory board.

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The Tripura High Court observed, “Considering his claim, the government decided to pay @Rs.5,000 /- per month for the period from 01.02.2016 to 30.11.2018 as the other members of the Board were drawing Rs. 4,000/- per month…during the period from 01.02.2016 to 30.11.2018 only one case was referred to NSA Advisory Board and the issue of discrimination vis-a-vis remuneration allowed to Justice Singhal (Retired High Court Judge) is not tenable.”

However, the petitioner’s counsel Purushottam Roy Barman said the NSA Advisory Board chairman is entitled to get their remuneration even when no work is assigned to them.

After hearing the arguments, the High Court ruled in an order that the government should have avoided arbitrarily determining the remuneration and termed it “disgraceful” and “apparent discrimination” between the similarly situated persons who have held the same position of chairman, NSA Advisory Board and ordered the respondents to pay the petitioner the retired judge at the rate of the salary of a High Court judge minus pension during the said period with other benefits within a period of three months.