High court judges’ retirement age set to go up from 62 to 65

The retirement age of high court judges is set to be revised from 62 to 65. The all-party parliamentary panel looking into the matter has concluded that ‘maturity makes a man perfect’. It has submitted its report to the government and the bill is expected to be cleared by Parliament in the budget session.

The constitution (114 amendment) bill, 2010, seeking to increase the retirement age of judges, additional judges or acting judges of high courts was introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 25. The bill proposes to amend clause (l) of Article 217 of the Constitution by substituting the word “sixty-five years” for the words “sixty-two years”.

In its report, the parliamentary panel, headed by Congress leader Jayanthi Natarajan, says an “aged and experienced person’’ can give his best and matured judgment. A higher retirement age will give them more time to take initiative in the matter of quick disposal of long pending cases, it held. The report said the hike may not be a solution to the whopping backlog of cases at different levels.