New Delhi, September 15
The Bar Council of India (BCI) and other bar bodies have unanimously demanded an amendment to the Constitution to enhance the retirement age of judges of the high court and the Supreme Court to 65 and 67 years, respectively.
At present, judges of the high courts and those of the Supreme Court retire at 62 and 65, respectively.
Srimaanto Sen, Secretary, BCI, said, “After consideration, the bar bodies unanimously came to a conclusion that there should be an immediate amendment to the Constitution and the retirement age of the judges be enhanced.”
A resolution was passed at a joint meeting of state bar councils, HC bar associations and the BCI last week. A copy of the resolution has been sent to the PM and Union Law Minister for immediate action, Sen said. Earlier, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances and Law and Justice had in its 96th report favoured increasing the retirement age of judges, saying it would help retain the existing Judges and reduce judicial vacancies as well as the pendency of cases.
Amid concerns over rising pendency in the Supreme Court and the 25 high courts, Attorney General KK Venugopal has been requesting the government to consider increasing the age of retirement of judges, saying “it will be in the interest of the justice delivery system.”
“It is my sincere hope that the Government of India will look into this issue and raise it to say, 65 for the judge of the high court and 68 for judges of the Supreme Court. That will be in the interest of the justice delivery system,” Venugopal had said in 2018 at a farewell function of a top court judge.
“A judge takes time to evolve and by the time he or she is in a position to put innovative thoughts to practice, comes the retirement agehellip;This could have been avoided if the age of retirement was not 62 for high court judges and 65 for Supreme Court judges. That is because a judge has to evolve over the years. He has to have vast experience as an advocate. When he becomes a judge, he has to sit on different Benches doing different subjects so that is an expert in each one,” Venugopal had said.
“Finally, the judge is elevated to the Supreme Court. In the Supreme Court, it is only when he presides that he is able to hold a sway in regard to the innovative thoughts that he has. By then, it would be time to say goodbye,” he had lamented.
SC for relief to life convicts
The life convicts having completed 10 years in jail with no possibility of their appeals being heard in the near future by the high court concerned should be released on bail, unless there were cogent reasons to deny them the relief, the Supreme Court said on Thursday.
