Supreme Court asks states to consider judicial retirement age at 61

The Supreme Court has asked states and Union Territories to consider letting judicial officers serve till 61 from April 1, with high court concurrence. The interim step seeks to address uneven state positions while the court decides on a nationwide retirement age of 62.

In Short

• Supreme Court suggests raising judicial officers' retirement age from 60 to 61 years
• States, UTs to consult with high courts before agreeing to interim increase
• Final decision on uniform retirement age of 62 years for district judges is pending

The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked states and Union Territories to consider increasing the retirement age of judicial officers from 60 to 61 years, while it examines a plea for a uniform rise to 62 years across the country. The court said the interim arrangement will apply from April 1, wherever the state government and the concerned high court agree on the move.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said the decision must be taken by states and UTs in consultation with their respective high courts. The court also made it clear that this temporary arrangement will not affect its final decision on whether the retirement age of district judiciary judges should be raised uniformly from 60 to 62 years nationwide.

In its order, the bench said, "All state governments and union territories (UTs) are directed to take a decision, in consultation with their respective jurisdictional high courts, on this issue. In case they agree, judicial officers in such states shall be permitted to continue in service up to the age of 61 years. Such continuation shall remain subject to the final outcome of these proceedings."

It directed all states and UTs to place their stand on record within two weeks after consulting the high courts. The jurisdictional high courts have also been asked to file their responses within the same period. However, states and high courts that already support the enhancement need only file a brief statement of concurrence instead of detailed counter affidavits.

The bench noted that Supreme Court judges retire at 65, while high court judges retire at 62. It said the interim arrangement would not prejudice the final adjudication of the main legal issue. "We clarify that the question of law formulated at the outset shall be decided by this court independently, irrespective of the stand that may be taken by the states or the high courts," the bench said.

The issue comes in the background of the top court's 2002 judgment rejecting the recommendation of the Justice K Jagannatha Shetty Commission, which had proposed increasing the retirement age of district judges to 62 years. Since then, some states, including Telangana and Madhya Pradesh, have moved towards raising the age.

On Wednesday, the bench was told that the Full Court of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has passed a resolution recommending that the retirement age of judicial officers be increased from 60 to 62 years.

At the same time, some high courts, including the Punjab and Haryana High Court, have opposed the proposal on the ground that the retirement age of government employees in their states remains 60 years or below.

The bench said an early resolution was needed because of the differing positions across the country, and introduced the interim mechanism for an increase to 61 years when there is consensus between the state government and the High Court.

The court also referred to an interim order passed on November 20 last year by a bench headed by the then Chief Justice of India B R Gavai, who has since retired, raising the retirement age of judicial officers in Madhya Pradesh from 60 to 61 years.

That bench had also referred to a similar decision by the Telangana High Court and asked why judicial officers should be denied the relief when the state government was willing to grant it.

"It is needless to say that judicial officers as well as other employees of the state government draw salaries from the same public exchequer," the bench had said, while noting that the retirement age of other state government employees was 62 years.

The Supreme Court has now asked states, UTs and high courts to state their position within two weeks, while allowing an interim increase to 61 years from April 1, 2026 in places where both the government and the high court agree, pending its final ruling on a uniform retirement age of 62 years for district judiciary judges across the country.

- Ends