HC judges zoom away on hot wheels

BANGALORE: Karnataka High Court judges arrived in aging Ambassadors on Monday morning and drove back home in the evening in spanking new Toyota Corollas. All the sitting judges of the Karnataka HC, including the Chief Justice, have been given Toyota Corolla cars by the state government.
Registrar general A S Pachapure confirmed on Monday that new cars have been allotted to the judges.Karnataka HC is the latest in the list of high courts across the country where judges are receiving upmarket replacements for their aging Ambassadors. The Madras HC judges have Honda City cars, Kerala HC judges have Mitsubishi Lancers, Andhra Pradesh HC judges have Opel Astras, Delhi HC judges have Toyota Corollas and Bombay HC judges have Maruti Balenos.
While high court judges have these swanky automobiles, the Supreme Court judges use the more humble Maruti Esteems. The new cars are seen as gifts to the judges on the occasion of the golden-jubilee year of the Karnataka HC, although sources said the proposal to give new cars had been pending for about two years. Sources said district judges will receive the cars, so far used by the HC judges.
Historically, judges in Karnataka have used personal Ambassador cars for nearly two decades. Records reveal that they used to pool cars before that. The chief justice of Karnataka in the 1970s, and early ‘80s had one car and the other judges had to share an Ambassador.
They also did not get residential accommodation in those early days. In the 1970s and ‘80s, the number of judges was much less. Judges started getting personal cars based on the 1954 Judges Conditions of Service Act. In the mid-90's, the high court judges received Premier 118 NEs but they are no longer in use. Today, district judges use Ambassadors and judges of metropolitan courts use pool vans.
Compared to the executive, the judiciary has lagged behind in terms of sharing in the overall prosperity the country is enjoying. The state ministers and chief secretaries received these swanky cars earlier.
Despite all these conditions being improved, Chief Justice of India Y K Saberwal recently bemoaned the fact that talented lawyers were not inclined to join as judges since the net perks judges receive are only a fraction of what their counterparts in the bar receive. Advocate general Udaya Holla agreed with the chief justice on perks.