No plan to up judge retirement age: Law Ministry

No plan to up judge retirement age: Law Ministry

News:

Parliamentary Panel recommends increase in retirement age of SC Judges to 67 Years and HC Judges to 65 Years

Important Facts:

• Amid concerns over a huge number of vacancies in the Supreme Court Parliamentary committee has recommended the government to consider increasing the age of retirement of top court judges from 65 years to 68 years
• According to Parliamentary Standing Committee recommendation, raising the retirement age of judges would help retain the existing judges, which in turn would help in reducing both vacancy and pendency of cases in short run.

Additional Facts:

• At present, there are only 22 judges against sanctioned strength of 31 judges in the Supreme Court which had a pendency of 54,013 cases
• Out of a total approved strength of 1,079 judges in 24 High Courts across the country, only 695 posts are filled.
• The vacancy of judges is very high in high courts of Allahabad (56), Karnataka (38), Calcutta ( 39), Punjab and Haryana (35), Telangana and Andhra Pradesh (30) and Bombay (24)
• The judge-population ratio in India is among the lowest in the world at 19.66 judges per million (10 lakh) people as of today.

Past Attempts to Increase the age of SC and HC judges:

• The issue of increasing the age of retirement for judges featured in the Venkatachaliah Report (Report of the National Commission to review the working of the Constitution) as early as 2002.
• In August 2010, then Union Law Minister introduced the Constitution (114th Amendment) Bill, 2010 in the Lok Sabha which sought to increase the retirement age of High Court judges to 65 but due to dissolution of Lok Sabha the bill got lapsed.

Role of Supreme Court:

• Supreme Court Advocates-On-Record Association and another v. Union of India asserted that it is the “responsibility of the Supreme Court in its administrative side to direct the concerned High Courts to initiate the process of filling-up vacancies in advance”.

Can Government Initiate Such a Process Without Drafting a Bill or Passing an Ordinance?

• A bill needs to be tabled like the 2010 one. If not passed, then an ordinance might help. But a constitutional amendment is necessary. Ordinance can overrule this, but cannot for long as SC itself terms it as a fraud on the Constitution.

The case in Western democracies

• A retirement age of around 70 for judges is commonplace in most Western liberal democracies. Some of them even opt for tenures for life. In the Supreme Court of the United States, and in constitutional courts in Austria and Greece, judges are appointed for life
• In Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Australia, the retirement age for judges is 70 years. Judges in Canada and Germany retire at 75 and 68, respectively.

Significance of increasing the age of retirement

• It will ensure the continued presence of a strong talent pool of experienced judges.
• New judges can be appointed without displacing existing judges.
• It will address the problem of mounting arrears.
• Ii will be a buffer against impending litigation explosion.
• It will render post-retirement assignments unattractive and, as a consequence, strengthen the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, both of which are crucial to sustain democracy.