Bill in monsoon session to hike retirement age of HC judges

The parliamentary standing committee on Law and Justice had recently put its stamp of approval on the Constitution (114th amendment) Bill, 2010 which seeks to increase the retirement age of HC judges from the present 62 to 65 years - bringing it on par with the retirement age of Supreme Court judges.

For this, the Constitution will be amended. "The report is favourable. Now, we will try to get the bill passed in the monsoon session of Parliament," Law Minister M Veerappa Moily told PTI.

With 291 posts lying vacant, at present 604 judges are manning the 21 High Courts in the country. Since it is a constitution amendment bill, it would have to be passed by both houses of Parliament with a majority of two-thirds of the MPs present and voting in its favour.

The last time the retirement age of High Court judges was increased was in 1963. The age was then increased from 60 to the present 62 years. "Most of the reasons adduced by the 5th Pay Commission in support of its recommendation for increasing the age of retirement of the central government employees, such as global practices, increase in life expectancy, improved health standards, need for utilisation of experience and wisdom of senior employees could also apply to judges," the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill introduced by Moily in August 2010 in Lok Sabha read.