NEW DELHI: Supreme Court judge Justice Kurian Joseph has asked the Centre to revise Leave Travel Concession ( LTC ) rules for judges of the apex court and grant them eight LTCs in a year, one almost every month considering that the SC has three months of vacation in a calendar year. At present, SC judges are allowed three LTCs every year.Justice Joseph is sixth in the apex court's hierarchy and will join the collegium which recommends names for selection as SC judges when CJI J S Khehar retires in the last week of August.The LTCs granted to SC judges is the same as an IAS officer in the rank of secretary. A secretary to the government of India, like other government officials, is entitled to just two LTCs in a block of four years - one restricted to travel to hometown and the second for a visit anywhere in India with wife and dependent children. In addition to air travel expenses, the rules provide for 10 days additional pay with a certain number of LTCs, which, according to the revised 7th Pay commission, could go up to Rs 75,000.However, unlike IAS officers, SC judges can travel anywhere in India on the LTCs thrice a year as per rules. Justice Joseph's letter comes at a time when the government is considering raising the emoluments of judges of the SC and high courts, commensurate with the recent pay hike for central staff.The Chief Justice of India is the highest-paid functionary in the judiciary with monthly salary of Rs 1 lakh, excluding dearness and other allowances. This is likely to be raised to Rs 2.8 lakh, in addition to perks such as official residence, cars and allowances as applicable. The government has pegged the salaries of chief justices of HCs and SC judges at Rs 2.5 lakh per month, in addition to allowances, at the level of the cabinet secretary, the Service chiefs and some constitutional functionaries such as the CAG and the CEC. The salary of an HC judge has been pegged at Rs 2.25 lakh per month, same as that of secretary-level officers in the central government."As of now a judge in SC is entitled to travelling allowances only thrice in a year. For judges, who do not belong to Delhi, they should be given at least five more LTCs restricted only to permanent residence (home LTC) as they have to travel quite often to their permanent residence because of family commitments," the judge in question has argued.Apex court judges' travelling allowances rules are notified by the central government under Section 24 of the Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act. The rules provides that "a judge of the SC shall be entitled to leave concession for himself, his wife and dependent members of his family for visiting any place in India (including permanent residence in his home state) during his leave, thrice a year in accordance with the rules applicable in this behalf to a member of the IAS holding the rank of a secretary".