Acting president and Senate Chairman, Sadiq Sanjrani, issued an order on Tuesday to raise the monthly salaries of the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) and other Supreme Court judges. According to the order, the CJP’s salary has been increased to Rs1.2 million, while the salaries of other top court judges have been set at Rs1.1 million.
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The order, titled “Salary of Judges of the Supreme Court Order 2023,” stated that the changes would take immediate effect and would be deemed to have been in effect from the beginning of the current month.
Previously, President Dr Arif Alvi had issued an order in June 2022, setting the CJP’s monthly salary at Rs1,024,324, and other top court judges’ salary at Rs967,636. The recent increase amounts to approximately 20%.
The order issued by Sanjrani repealed the previous order and introduced the new salary structure for the judiciary.
This development comes in the wake of controversy surrounding proposed legislation to increase the perks of Senate chairpersons, which received criticism from within the upper house.
Sanjrani has been assuming the responsibilities of the president’s office during President Alvi’s absence, who is currently in Saudi Arabia for Haj.
In recent days, Sanjrani signed an ordinance introducing amendments to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) law, granting the accountability watchdog the power to detain non-cooperative suspects.
Additionally, he signed two bills, namely the amended Finance Bill 2023-24 and the Elections (Amendment) Bill 2023, into law. The finance bill underwent changes dictated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to secure critical funding, while the elections law aims to limit lawmakers’ disqualification to five years with retrospective effect and grants more authority to the Election Commission of Pakistan.
The salary increase for the chief justice and Supreme Court judges is a significant step that acknowledges their crucial roles in the judiciary and ensures fair compensation for their services.
