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Giridhar Gopal in Bhubaneswar
Members of the lower judiciary in Orissa belonging to the Orissa Judicial Service cadre have threatened to submit their resignations and stop work from November 9 unless the state government raises their salaries and perks, secretary of the All-Orissa Judicial Officers Association Girish Kumar Mishra said in Bhubaneswar on Friday.
Mishra said a commission headed by Justice K J Shetty had recommended the increase in perks and salaries of lower court judges in all states. In Orissa, 457 judges are eligible for this hike.
On March 21, the Supreme Court also directed all states to enhance the pay scales by September.
But, Mishra said, the Orissa government was not ready to implement this order, stating that it would cause a financial burden of Rs 1,000 crore [approximately US$206.19 million] to the state exchequer. The Orissa Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik even adopted a resolution to move a curative application in the Supreme Court expressing its inability to bear the additional burden.
According to Mishra, however, the increase will cost the state government only Rs 3 crore [$620,000] annually.
"We do not want to go on strike," Mishra told reporters, "but if the state government fails to implement it [the SC order] by November 9, then we will tender our resignations and not work."
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