There is ample justification for raising the retirement age of Supreme Court and high court judges. Though Union Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily has reportedly denied such a move from the government for now, the ruling coalition and all other political parties would do well to evolve a consensus on the issue for paving the way for a smooth constitutional amendment by Parliament. At present, while Supreme Court judges retire at 65 years, those in high courts attain superannuation at 62. Though the age for both categories, according to a proposal, could be raised to 68 and 65, respectively, there is greater rationale in maintaining parity between the two. Indeed, legal luminary and former Rajya Sabha MP, Mr Fali S. Nariman, had sought to raise the retirement age of high court judges from 62 to 65 years to make it equal to that of the apex court judges. A parliamentary committee report (2007-08) had also recommended uniformity in the judges' retirement age.
There is no underlying principle of public policy fixing the retirement age of high court judges at 62. There is also no cogent explanation why judges drawn from the same pool retire at 62 and 65 years in high courts and the apex court, respectively. Mr Nariman's Constitutional (Amendment) Bill (XI of) 2004 sought to remove this "competition" for the apex court. Even otherwise, there is an imperative need for increasing the judges' retirement age. It will greatly help clear the huge backlog of arrears in the higher judiciary.
The National Commission to review the working of the Constitution had recommended the same on the ground that judges with long years of experience are able to dispose of more cases quickly. More important, according to many jurists, there have been several instances of learned judges who reached their highest level of efficiency and performance just when they reached their 60s and their retirement was thus a big loss to the judiciary. A high court judge serves for about 10 to 12 years, given the increased longevity of human life. Consequently, it would be a national waste of a judge's long years of experience if he/she is retired at the peak performing level — mentally and physically.
