No proposal to hike retirement age of High Court judges: Government

Amid an ongoing debate on vacancies in the higher judiciary, the government today said there was no proposal to increase the retirement age of high court judges from 62 to 65 years.

Responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha on whether any proposal for extension of retirement age of high court judges was under consideration by the government, Minister of State for Law P P Chaudhary said no such proposal was under consideration.

A bill brought by the previous UPA government in 2010 to increase the retirement age of high court judges from 62 to 65 years had  lapsed after the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha in 2014.

The Constitution (114th Amendment) Bill, 2010, which provided for increasing the retirement age of high court judges from 62 to 65 years was introduced in the Lok Sabha on July 25. But it could not be taken up for consideration and passage, and it lapsed.

The UPA proposal had sought to bring at par the retirement age of high court judges with that of Supreme Court judges at 65 years.

The 24 high courts face a shortage of 406 judges, according to latest law ministry data.

Nearly 3 crore cases are pending in courts across India.