Age Of Retirement Of Supreme Court & High Court Judges Needs To Be Increased: Parliamentary Committee

The recent Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice in 133rd report on “Judicial Process and Reforms” has recommended that the age of retirement of Supreme Court and High Court judges needs to be increased.

“The Committee feels that the age of retirement of judges needs to be increased in sync with the increase in the longevity and advancement in medical sciences leading to improved health of the population. The Committee accordingly, recommends that relevant Articles of the Constitution of India need to be amended and the age of retirement of Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts may be increased appropriately,” it stated.

However, it also said that while increasing the age of retirement for judges, the performance of Judges may be reassessed based on their health conditions, quality of judgements, number of judgments delivered etc. “For this, a system of appraisal may be devised and put in place, by the Supreme Court collegium, before any judge is recommended for enhancement of their tenure.”

The Committee noted that in 2019 the then CJI proposed increasing the retirement age of High Court Judges, however, as of now, the Government has informed that there is no proposal to increase the retirement age of Judges, Additional and Acting Judges of the High Courts.

It also said that the Government has submitted that, “as of now, (it) does not feel the need to increase the retirement age of the High Court Judges."

“The Government feels that the increase in the age of retirement of the High Court would bring parity in the retirement of Judges of the High Court and Supreme Court and would reduce attraction among High Court Judges for getting elevated to Supreme Court,” noted the Committee.

According to the Government, any such increase may lead to a situation where there will be no regular vacancies for the post of High Court Judges for the enhanced years of service and the authorities would totally be deprived of the opportunity to recruit deserving and meritorious candidates from feeder channel i.e. Judicial Officers, Advocates, it noted further.

While observing that increasing the age of retirement of judges would not only help the judicial system but also the public at large, specifically the litigants before the Courts, it said that the judicial system would be greatly benefited because a person with a wealth of experience under his or her belt by virtue of a long tenure in the High Court would continue to serve the High Court for a further period.

It took note of the retirement of Supreme Court and Federal judges in various countries. “The age of retirement of Judges in developed countries with good medical facilities and infrastructure is around 70 for the lower judiciary and 75 years to a lifetime for Supreme Court and Federal Judges,” said the Committee.

The Committee said that it is in agreement with the views of the government that if the increase in retirement age is considered it should be along with other measures to ensure transparency and accountability in the appointments to the Higher Judiciary and a concerted effort be made to fill up the existing vacancies.

However, the apprehension of the government that an increase in the retirement age of judges will lead to similar demands from the civil servants is unfounded, it added.

“Judges cannot be compared to any service under the government. Already many states have increased the retirement age of Doctors and Professors due to their shortage. Such demands should be considered on a case- to-case basis,” the Committee said.

MP P. Wilson, while stressing the need for Increasing the retirement age of High Courts and Supreme Court Judges, has pointed out in the report that, “When Supreme Court judges upon retirement are functioning effectively as Chairman and Members of various important Tribunals where the workload is sometimes heavier, why do we assume they cannot continue functioning as Judge of the Supreme Court till 70 years of age?”

While recommending the increase of age of retirement, the Committee concluded that, “Many stakeholders had also raised objections to the post-retirement assignments given to judges, and the Committee is accordingly, of the view that with the increase in the age of retirement of judges, the practice of post-retirement assignments to judges of Supreme Court and High Courts in bodies/institutions financed from public exchequer may be reassessed to ensure their impartiality.”