Tamil Nadu agrees to raise judges’ retirement age

NEW DELHI: In a bid to ensure that the attrition of the experienced judicial talent stops and access to justice does not remain a mere chimera, the Supreme Court has directed seven states to raise the retirement age of judicial officers from 60 to 62 years.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said judicial officers in the seven states who have superannuated on or after March 31 this year shall be given an option to re-join the judicial office, if they have not already obtained subsequent employment.

“The states which have consented to the enhancement of age of the Judicial Officers, namely, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, are directed to amend the service rules and enhance the age of superannuation in the judicial service to 62 years, subject to the suitability assessment of the concerned Judicial Officer, on their attainment of the age of 60 years, by the High Court. Such amendments shall be carried out as early as possible, preferably within two months,” the bench said.

“Pending amendment of the rules, no judicial officer in the aforesaid States who has attained the age of 60 years shall superannuate until he attains the age of 62 years, subject to an assessment of his suitability and performance by the High Court concerned,” it said.

The top court directed Andhra, AP, HP, UP, Assam, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Keralam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand, NCT of Delhi, J&K, and Puducherry to reconsider their decision on the retirement age and reach a decision within two weeks and submit a compliance report.

The top court said it has taken into consideration the fact that age differential may be a legitimate expectation in the superior judiciary.

“The crying need of the hour is to ensure that the attrition of experienced judicial talent be arrested so that the gap between the sanctioned and the working strength in the judicial service is reduced,” it said.