New Delhi:- The Supreme Court on Monday expressed satisfaction that 14 states had agreed to increase the retirement age of district judiciary officers (judges) from 60 to 62 years. The court, however, declined to take up for an early hearing separate applications filed by judges nearing retirement or those who had recently retired.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana said, “This matter concerns the effective jurisdiction of this court and is an issue between the Supreme Court and the states.” The Chief Justice expressed hope that the remaining states would also implement the decision soon.
Earlier, on September 4, the bench had directed the states to raise the retirement age of judicial officers from 60 to 62 years. The court had said that judges who retired after March 31 in Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal should be given the option to rejoin service, subject to an eligibility assessment by the respective High Court.
The court had also asked 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, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, and Puducherry to reconsider the decision.
The bench had clarified that states could not oppose the increase in the retirement age by citing the financial burden. The retirement age of Supreme Court judges is 65 years, while that of High Court judges is 62 years. The matter relates to a petition seeking a uniform retirement age of 62 years for district judiciary judges across the country.
