Government Says No Proposal To Increase Retirement Age Of Supreme And High Court Judges
The government informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that there is no proposal to increase the retirement age of Supreme Court and High Court judges.
It also clarified that the Constitution does not specify any "cooling off" period for judges seeking post-retirement assignments. Currently, Supreme Court judges retire at the age of 65, while High Court judges retire at 62, and district judges at 60.
"There is no such proposal for increasing the retirement age of judges of the Supreme Court and high courts," Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said.
The Congress-led UPA 2 government had introduced a constitutional amendment bill in the Lok Sabha to align the retirement age of High Court judges with that of Supreme Court judges. However, the bill lapsed as it was not considered by the House.
During Question Hour, AAP's Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chaddha raised a supplementary question, pointing out that judges are often appointed to executive and political roles after retirement. He mentioned that some retired judges become members of the Rajya Sabha, while others are appointed as governors.
He claimed that this raises several questions in the minds of people. "It raises the question of conflict of interest. It raises questions about executive interference in the judicial process. Independence of the judiciary is questioned," Chaddha said.
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The AAP MP said many committees have suggested and he also wants to know the government's view that there should be a cooling-off period.
He said no judge should be given any political or executive role for at least two years after retirement. They should also not be given any chairmanship of any committee, he added.
Chaddha also suggested that their pension should be enhanced to the extent that they should not be financially dependent on any post-retirement job.
In his response, Law Minister Meghwal said the AAP MP has tried to give a political angle to the issue.
The minister also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not made these tribunals and institutions for appointment of judges when they retire. 'These tribunals haven't been formed by the Modi,' he underscored.
(With inputs from PTI.)
