Justice UU Lalit had a relatively short tenure as Chief Justice of India, serving for just 74 days from August 27 to November 8. However, if one were to account for the number of staff he had, and if there were statistics on the number of official peons and support staff engaged at the residence of a constitutional post holder, Justice Lalit might be holding a record.
During his tenure as the CJI, Justice Lalit had more than 40 official assistants and support staff working at his official residence — 19, Akbar Road, New Delhi. This is a significantly larger number than any other constitutional post holder, with the exception of the President’s residence and the Prime Minister’s office. Justice Lalit did let go of some of his staff after his retirement. However, even now, nearly two months after his retirement, there are still 28 peons and support staff working at his residence, including a few from BVG India, a company that has been contracted by the Supreme Court for cleaning and maintenance services.
As per a report in the Times of India, earlier CJIs had 12-15 support staff at the official residence and after retirement retained only two or three, on average.
Justice Lalit hired these staff to assist with the smooth operation of his household and residential office. However, they are on the Supreme Court’s payroll. As per the norm, the support staff is provided by the Supreme Court if the retired CJIs remained in Delhi, or by the relevant High Court if the CJIs returned to their home state after laying down their office.
The unique case of Justice Lalit came to light when Law Minister Kiran Rijiju enumerated the list of facilities available to retired judges during the Winter Session of Parliament. In response to a question about pending cases in the courts, the minister highlighted the various amenities, such as accommodation, support staff, and security, provided to former judges of the Supreme Court and High Court. This year, the central government further increased the facilities available to retired judges.
Interestingly, these amenities are not available to the minister after his “retirement,” with the exception of a pension as a Member of Parliament.
