No proposal to increase retirement age of SC, HC judges: Govt tells RS

New Delhi, Dec 5: There is no proposal to increase the retirement age of Supreme Court and high court judges, the government told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

It also underlined that there is no mention of any "cooling off" period in the Constitution for post-retirement assignments for judges.

SC judges retire at the age of 65, while HC judges demit office at 62. District judges retire at the age of 60.

"There is no such proposal for increasing the retirement age of judges of the Supreme Court and high courts," Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said.

The UPA 2 government had brought a constitutional amendment bill in the Lok Sabha to bring the retirement age of HC judges on par with that of SC judges. But the bill lapsed as it was not taken up for consideration in the House.

Asking a supplementary during Question Hour, AAP's Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chaddha said judges have been given executive and political roles post-retirement. While some come to Rajya Sabha as members, others become governors after retirement.

He claimed that this raises several questions in the minds of people. "It raises the question of conflict of interest. It raises questions about executive interference in the judicial process. Independence of the judiciary is questioned," Chaddha said.

The AAP MP said many committees have suggested and he also wants to know the government's view that there should be a cooling-off period.

He said no judge should be given any political or executive role for at least two years after retirement. They should also not be given any chairmanship of any committee, he added.

Chaddha also suggested that their pension should be enhanced to the extent that they should not be financially dependent on any post-retirement job.

He also said there should be a process of merit-based appointment under which judges should be appointed not on the basis of whims and fancies of the government.

In his response, Law Minister Meghwal said the AAP MP has tried to give a political angle to the issue.

"The appointment of Supreme Court and high court judges is done on the basis of a memorandum of procedure made in accordance with Article 124, Article 217, Article 224, and (series of) Supreme Court judgments," he pointed out.

Meghwal said Chaddha was referring to a chief justices' conference in which a resolution was passed that judges' retirement age should be increased.

Chaddha was also referring to the parliamentary standing committee's report that stated the retirement age of high court judges should be increased from 62 to 65, Meghwal said.

"But instead of raising this issue, he raised another subject of cooling-off period. There is no proposal for increasing the retirement age of judges under consideration by the government.

"He has devised this 'cooling-off period' phrase to criticise the Modi government as there is no mention of any cooling period in the Constitution," Meghwal said.

The minister also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not made these tribunals and institutions for appointment of judges when they retire. "These tribunals haven't been formed by the Modi," he underscored.