Union Minister for Personnel and Training while piloting the bill in Lok Sabha on 20.07.2019 on salaries and tenure of Information Commissioners argued that since verdicts of Information Commissioners could be challenged at Supreme Court, it was illogical to keep Central Information Commissioners at par with Supreme Court judges in respect of salaries etc. But same holds good for Election Commissioners also where Election Commission is also usually a party before Supreme Court.
Whole system of fixing salaries, perks and post-retirement benefits for all in judiciary, bureaucracy and legislature should be same. Supreme Court judges, Election Commissioners, Information Commissioners and even those on highest post of legislature including President and Prime Minister should be paid salaries and benefits equivalent to highest paid bureaucrat and service-chiefs without requiring any separate legislation for amending salaries of President, Vice President and judges. It is absolutely illogical and unjustified that Supreme Court judges gifted themselves life-time domestic-help for themselves and their spouses at cost-of public-exchequer.
Such maximum limit of salaries should also be in sports-bodies and others where even Union government has favoured BCCI to be under purview of RTI Act. It is absolutely incorrect to develop a society with huge widening income-gap where many cricketers are being paid annual salary of rupees seven crores apart from match-money, award-money etc apart from life-time pension from BCCI. When pension to bureaucrats has now been done away, it should be withdrawn from others also.
SUBHASH CHANDRA AGRAWAL