A Lawyer has challenged a decision by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) that scrapped the taxable car allowances for Judges.
Peter Gachuiri wants the Attorney General, the National Treasury and the Head of Public Service compelled to immediately process and pay the car grant to Judges.
He described the SRC’s decision to withdraw the allowance as ‘unconstitutional and unlawful advice’.
In June 2011, the Head of Public Service issued a circular which confirmed the grant as a Taxable Allowance for Purchase of Motor Vehicles of up to a maximum of Sh2 million.
The Head of Public Service subsequently confirmed the taxable car allowance at Sh 5 million and subsequently at a maximum of Sh10 million through circulars dated June 2018.
But in 2021, during the subsistence of this benefit, SRC wrote to the Head of Public Service asking him to revoke the circulars.
“As a result, judges who were subsequently appointed have been denied their requests for the Taxable Car Allowance for Purchase of Motor Vehicles. All the applications by Judges for the processing of the taxable car allowance made after June 2022 were not processed,” says Gachuiri in his court papers.
He explains that the benefit of a Car Grant is helpful to judges since there are many occasions when new judges are not issued with official transport in a timely manner as has happened before with judges who were appointed in the year 2021.
Through Lawyer Elisha Ongoya, Gachuiri says the move by SRC to abolish the taxable allowance threatens the independence of the judiciary and should be reviewed.
Justice Lawrence Mugambi directed the documents to be served on the SRC and AG (respondents) within seven days.
They are to serve their responses within 14 days.
The case will be mentioned on September 26 to confirm compliance.
