No proposal at present to increase retirement age of HC judges: Govt in Rajya Sabha

There is no proposal at present to increase the retirement age of high court judges, the government said in Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

Responding to a question, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a written reply that while every effort is made to fill up the existing vacancies expeditiously, vacancies of judges in high courts do keep on arising on account of retirement, resignation or elevation and also due to increase in the strength of judges.

"There is no proposal at present to increase the retirement age of high court judges," he said.

He was asked whether the government has any plan to increase the retirement age of high court judges to 65 years.

The retirement of the judges of the high courts is 62 years and that of the Supreme Court is 65 years.

The minister also said filling up of vacancies in the high courts is a continuous, integrated and collaborative process between the Executive and the Judiciary. It requires consultation and approval from various constitutional authorities both at the state and the central level.

The sanctioned strength of judges in the 25 high courts is 1,080.

A bill brought by the then UPA government in 2010 to increase the retirement age of high court judges from 62 to 65 years had lapsed after the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha in 2014.

The Constitution (114th Amendment) Bill, 2010, which provided for increasing the retirement age of high court judges from 62 to 65 years, was introduced in Lok Sabha on July 25, 2010. But it could not be taken up for consideration and passage, and had lapsed.

The UPA proposal had sought to bring at par the retirement age of high court judges with that of Supreme Court judges at 65 years.