The Supreme Court has expressed its approval regarding the decision of fourteen states to raise the retirement age of district judicial officers from 60 to 62 years. This announcement was made on Monday. The court noted the positive response from these states but refrained from urgently addressing individual petitions from judges nearing retirement.

A bench consisting of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana stated that the matter at hand is primarily between the Supreme Court and the states. The Chief Justice remarked that he is optimistic that other states will follow suit in increasing the retirement age for judicial officers.

Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar sought the listing of one such individual petition, highlighting that judicial officers are retiring daily. However, the court maintained its position against hearing separate petitions when a broader issue is already under consideration.

Details of the Retirement Age Increase

On September 4, the Supreme Court directed the states to implement the increase in retirement age from 60 to 62 years for judicial officers. The court specified that those who retired on or after March 31 this year in states such as Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal should have the option to rejoin judicial service, provided they have not taken up alternative employment.

The court instructed these states to amend their service rules accordingly and to ensure that the retirement age is raised to 62 years. This extension is contingent upon an assessment of the judicial officer’s suitability by the respective high court. The bench indicated that these amendments should ideally be completed within a two-month timeframe.

The Supreme Court further mandated that no judicial officer in the aforementioned states who has reached the age of 60 shall retire until they attain the age of 62, pending an evaluation of their performance and suitability by the relevant high court.

Reconsideration of Retirement Age by Other States

Additionally, the Supreme Court has directed various states and Union territories, including Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, the National Capital Territory of Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, and Puducherry, to reconsider their stances on the retirement age of judicial officers.

The court previously indicated that financial concerns cannot be used as a justification for opposing the increase in retirement age. It has urged state governments to reassess their positions on this matter. The Supreme Court is currently hearing a petition advocating for a uniform increase in the retirement age of district judiciary judges across the nation.

This development is set against the backdrop of a 2002 Supreme Court ruling that did not endorse the Justice K Jagannatha Shetty Commission’s recommendation to raise the retirement age of district judges to 62. Since that time, some states, including Telangana and Madhya Pradesh, have begun to move towards increasing the retirement age for their judicial officers.

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