Colombo, Oct. 5 – The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has decided to pay only partial salaries to judges currently under suspension and to withhold several allowances that they would normally receive.

According to reports, a circular regarding this decision has been issued by Prasanna Alwis, Secretary of the Judicial Service Commission, to all High Court Judges.

The JSC had recently suspended several judges facing various allegations. Following these suspensions, the Commission determined that the judges in question would only be entitled to reduced salaries during the period of suspension.

The matter of which allowances should be paid alongside the partial salaries was discussed during a meeting of the Audit and Management Committee of the Ministry of Justice and National Integration.

At the meeting, the committee decided that only the following allowances should be granted to suspended judges:

• Professional allowance
  
• Personal allowance
  
• Cost of living allowance
  
• Language proficiency allowance
  

Meanwhile, the following allowances will not be paid during the suspension period:

• Telephone allowance
  
• Vehicle allowance
  
• Driver’s allowance
  
• Book allowance
  
• Housing/rent allowance
  
• Appeal allowance
  
• Fuel allowance
  

Based on these decisions, the Judicial Service Commission has issued a circular specifying the allowances to be paid with partial salaries for the suspended judges.