Justice Dept. says raising judges’ retirement age may benefit non-performers

Source: The post is based on the article “Justice Dept. says raising judges’ retirement age may benefit non-performers” published in The Hindu on 26th December 2022. 

What is the News?

Recently, the Department of Justice made a presentation that comprised details of judicial processes and reforms, including the possibility of increasing the retirement age of High Court and Supreme Court judges.

What are the Department of Justice’s concerns about raising judges’ retirement age?

Recently, the Union Law Minister informed Parliament that there was no proposal to increase the retirement age of Supreme Court and High Court judges.

The Department of Justice made a presentation before the parliamentary panel on Personnel, Law, and Justice.

The Department of Justice has said that raising judges’ retirement age might have the following concerns, a) Increasing the retirement age of Supreme Court and High Court judges could extend the years of service of non-performing judges, b) Creating a cascading effect with the government employees, especially at Central and State level, PSUs, commissions, etc, raising a similar demand, c) Deprive the performance of tribunals having retired judges as presiding officers or judicial members.

What are the recommendations of the department on judicial processes and reforms?

The department recommended a) Increasing the retirement age of judges along with measures to ensure transparency and accountability in appointments to the higher judiciary, b) Taking efforts to fill up existing vacancies in the district and subordinate judiciary and bringing down arrears of cases pending in courts

What are the steps taken so far for raising judges’ retirement age?

Supreme Court judges retire at the age of 65 years, and High Court judges retire at 62 years.

The 114th Amendment Bill was introduced in 2010. It aims to increase the retirement age of High Court judges to 65 years. The Bill was not taken up for consideration in Parliament and lapsed with the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.