Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed has reconstituted Bangladesh Judicial Service Pay Commission in order to determine salaries, allowances and other facilities of lower court judges and to make necessary recommendations to the government.

The chief justice has nominated Justice SM Emdadul Hoque, a judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, as chairman of the commission while Justice Fatema Najib, a judge of the High Court Division of the SC, and Md Azizul Haque, deputy secretary of the law ministry, as members of the commission.

SC Spokesman Md Muajjem Hussain told The Daily Star that the chief justice took the initiative under Bangladesh Judicial Service (Pay Commission) Rules, 2007.

He said a Judicial Service Pay Commission had been constituted under the leadership of Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana, a judge of the Appellate Division, in 2014. The chairman and members of the then commission have already retired, he added.

The judicial pay commission is supposed to make recommendations to the government after reviewing salaries and other facilities of the members of the service, keeping in mind the overall social condition of the country and the salary structure of the service every five years, according to the Bangladesh Judicial Service (Pay Commission) Rules.