The Supreme Court has agreed to examine a plea seeking a permanent mechanism to fix and revise the salary and allowances for MPs and MLAs, saying lawmakers increasing their own salary raised an “important ethical and legal issue” that needed adjudication.
A bench of Justice J Chelameswar and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said the Centre had been considering setting up a permanent body for the purpose for more than a decade and it was high time the matter was decided. “The policy is there since then (2006), but tell us what is the government’s view,” the bench said The SC also made it clear to the Centre that it should not ask the court not to adjudicate the issue by arguing that it was a policy matter which should be decided by Parliament and the government. The bench said the Centre had earlier objected, on the ground of jurisdiction, to the court examining the issue of mandatory disclosure of sources of assets by politicians while contesting polls but all political parties welcomed its verdict.
The court was referring to the February 14 judgment delivered by a bench headed by Justice Chelameswar for compulsory disclosure of poll candidates’ sources of wealth and favouring disqualification of lawmakers from legislative bodies if they amassed disproportionate assets.
Senior advocate Ajit Sinha, appearing for the Centre, said the issue of setting up a permanent body to fix MPs’ salary was under the government’s consideration, and sought two weeks to take a stand.
The court adjourned the hearing and asked the Centre to take a “categorical” stand on the issue. The bench will also examine whether pension and allowances like unlimited free train travel, for former MPs and MLAs are justified.
The court was hearing a plea filed by NGO Lok Prahari seeking its direction to scrap allowances for former lawmakers. Questioning various provisions of the law framed by Parliament granting former MPs various allowances, the petitioner has alleged that amenities granted to former lawmakers were unreasonable. “While governors do not have the facility of pension at all, an MP even for a day and his spouse get pension for life. While even serving judges of the Supreme Court and high courts do not have the facility of free air/train travel for their spouses even on official tours, ex-MPs enjoy unlimited free train travel for life in AC-II with a companion 365 days a year,” former bureaucrat S N Shukla, the NGO’s general secretary, told the court.
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