Judges appointed out of Judiciary will get an additional Sh100,000 in their basic salary following a ruling by Justice George Odunga on Wednesday.
A group of judges who were fished out from the private practice filed a discrimination case against Salaries and Renumeration Commission.
The court had heard that judges who were hired from private practice started with a basic salary of Sh532,500 per month and a non-practising allowance of Sh13,500 while those promoted from magistrates started with a pay of Sh632,000 and a non-practising allowance of Sh13,500.
“To create a disparity between those who were serving in the Judiciary and those not serving would imply that it is an added advantage for one who is appointed from the Judiciary. That is a disparity that in my view has no legal basis,” Justice Odunga ruled.
This means that Chief Justice David Maraga and the JSC will now have to pay more for judges who have been in bench since 2014 but were not accorded the privileges.
More often than not, the JSC has been plucking lawyers from private practice directly to the Judiciary. Retired Chief Justice Willy Mutunga is one of such lawyers.
Salaries and Renumeration Commission had tried to block the attempts, arguing that the judges were not justified to get the extra pay.
The ruling could yet again rattle the cash strapped Treasury which recently cut Judiciary allocations, irking Chief Justice David Maraga.