Former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi who was nominated as a Rajya Sabha member in March 2020 is the only member in the Upper House who does not withdraw salary or take allowances, reported India Today.
Justice Gogoi, while contacted forwarded the letter he had written to the Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha dated March 24, 2020. The letter said that he had formally opted not to avail the salary and allowances of the Upper House due.
"Please note that I am not availing of the benefit of the salary and allowances (except travelling allowances and accommodation) which I would otherwise be entitled to as a member of the Rajya Sabha. Instead, I opt to continue to avail of the retirement benefits which are being paid to me as a former Chief Justice of India," Justice Gogoi wrote.
However, in response to a message from India Today, Justice Gogoi said his CJI pension amount was Rs 82,301 per month.
According to a RTI report, the Upper House disclosed that the government spends around Rs 3 crore per month on salaries and allowances to its current members of Rajya Sabha.
"As per the record available in this branch, salary and allowances (Constituency Allowance and Office Expense Allowance) were paid to 226 Member of the Rajya Sabha in the Month of July 2020, which amounts to Rs 2,99,18,000," the Rajya Sabha wrote.
According to the website of the Upper House, however, as of August 30, there are 243 MPs which creates a missing figure of 17 Rajya Sabha MPs according to the July figures submitted by the Rajya Sabha.
Meanwhile, the report of India Today stated that Justice Gogoi does not draw a salary or take allowances, while two other Members of the Upper House — Manoj Jha and Rakesh Sinha — only draw their allowances.
