It is not uncommon for the Supreme Court judges to have large staffs to help them for various needs, considering the mammoth work load the top court judges function under. However, once they are relieved from their duties, it is unlikely and unfeasible for them to retain so many members in their staff. Justice UU Lalit, the former Chief Justice of India, is perhaps the exception.
As per the report by the Times of India, 49th CJI UU Lalit, still has a staff of 28 members for the smooth running of his home and residential office. Justice Lalit had a staff of 40 members when he was at the helm of the Apex Court.
Apart from the Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), no other person holding a constitutional post has received such a large contingent of peons and support staff. Experts say that there may be a crisis of judges' accommodation next month.
28 support staff deployed even after one and a half months of retirement
During his 74-day tenure as CJI, UU Lalit had more than 40 support staff at his official residence, 19 Akbar Road. Justice UU Lalit was the 49th Chief Justice of India from 27 August 2022 to 8 November 2022. After retirement, he had released some of his support staff, but even after more than one and a half months, today 28 support staff are deployed at his 19, Akbar Road residence.
Justice Lalit's staff employees of company outsourced by SC
Some of them are employees of BVG India, which has been outsourced by the Supreme Court for cleaning and maintenance work. If we talk about the number of support staff posted at the official residences of former CJIs before UU Lalit, then on an average there were 12-15 support staff, out of which only two or three were kept after retirement. These support staff were provided by the Supreme Court only.
