Supreme Court asks states to review judges retirement age

Observing that states cannot cite financial burden to oppose raising the retirement age of judicial officers, the Supreme Court on Wednesday asked state governments to revisit the issue of enhancing the age of superannuation of judges and take a decision within two weeks.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said concerns over the financial burden are “misconceived”.

“We impress upon all the state governments to revisit the issue of



enhancement of the age of retirement of judicial officers, irrespective of the age of superannuation prescribed for other government employees,” the bench said.

The top court said retaining experienced judicial officers may impose a lower financial burden than retiring them and filling the resulting vacancies.

“We have no reason to doubt that the continuation of experienced and seasoned judicial officers would entail a lesser financial liability than what the State would incur upon their retirement.