Raise retirement age of SC judges to 68 yrs: A-G

Satya Prakash

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Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 7

Amid concerns over a huge number of vacancies in the Supreme Court, Attorney General KK Venugopal has requested the Centre to consider increasing the age of retirement of top court judges from 65 years to 68 years.

At present, there are only 22 judges against sanctioned strength of 31 in the Supreme Court, which had a pendency of 54,013 cases as on May 4.

With three more judges, including CJI Dipak Misra, set to retire by December, the situation is likely to get worse, particularly due to collegium’s inability to clear names for elevation.

Speaking at a Supreme Court Bar Association function to bid farewell to Justice AK Goel on Friday, the Attorney General urged the government to increase judges’ retirement age, saying: “It will be in the interest of the justice delivery system.”

The top law officer of the Centre also favoured raising the retirement age of high court judges from 62 to 65 years. His suggestion is in tune with the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances and Law and Justice, which had in its 96th report favoured increasing judges’ retirement age. The retirement age of SCjudges should be increased to 67 years and that of HCjudges to 65 years, the report — tabled in Parliament earlier this year — had said.