ISLAMABAD President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday approved increase of average 30 per cent in the salaries and judicial allowances of the superior judiciary from July 1, 2009, as per an official handout issued by the Presidency. According to details, the President has approved this increase in remunerations of both the judges of Supreme Court and High Courts including respective Chief Justices on the recommendations of the Prime Minister. The increase in salaries and judicial allowances of the judges of superior judiciary shall come into force at once and shall be deemed to have taken effect on and from July 1, 2009. According to the revised pay structure, a Supreme Court judge will now get a salary of Rs245,457 while a High Court judge would get Rs231,563 per month. After getting an increase of 60,000 or approximately 30 per cent, the Chief Justice of Pakistan would draw Rs259,838 per month effective from July 1, 2009. This clearly indicates that the judges would get arrears of the increase for last eight months. A Supreme Court judge will now draw Rs245,457 per month against his earlier salary of Rs188,813. The Chief Justice of a High Court would get Rs240,825 per month instead of Rs185,250 while a High Court judge would now fetch a salary of Rs231,563 per month as against Rs178,125, which he is drawing at present. Apart from the salary, the judicial allowance of the judges of Supreme Court and High Courts has also been increased. Chief Justice and judges of Supreme Court would now be taking a judicial allowance of Rs113,750 per month as against Rs87,500. Similarly, Chief justice and Judges of High court will now be getting Rs91,000 as against Rs70,000 after the increase in their judicial allowance. The salary and allowances are allowed to the judges of the Supreme Court under paras 1 and 2 of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution (Supreme Court part) while the salary and allowances of the judges of High Courts are allowed under paras 1 & 2 of the Fifth schedule (High Court part) to the Constitution. It may be mentioned here that under the provision of the fifth schedule of the Constitution, the President fixes the salary and allowances of the judges of Supreme Court and High Courts through the Presidents order. The President signed the order during a ceremony held here at the Presidency. Dr Babar Awan, Minister for Law & Justice, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Sardar Latif Khosa, Advisor to the Prime Minister, and other senior government officials attended the ceremony.