The Supreme Court said there’s “no legal impediment” to raising the retirement age of Madhya Pradesh district judges to 61. It directed the High Court to decide on the matter within two months
New Delhi: Today On May 26, The Supreme Court of India said on Monday that there is no legal difficulty in increasing the retirement age of judicial officers in Madhya Pradesh from 60 to 61 years.
The court has now asked the Madhya Pradesh High Court to consider this matter seriously and make a decision within two months.
A bench of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih, was hearing a case filed by the Madhya Pradesh Judges Association.
The association had approached the top court back in 2018, requesting that the retirement age of district judges be raised from the current 60 years to 62 years.
During the hearing, the Supreme Court bench took note of the arguments made by the Judges Association and clearly stated that there is “no legal impediment” in raising the retirement age to 61 years. This means that, legally, there is no barrier or restriction to increasing the retirement age.
The court did not pass any final order itself on the increase of retirement age. Instead, it directed the Madhya Pradesh High Court to take up the matter on its administrative side and make a decision preferably within the next two months.
The court said that the High Court should now consider and decide on the matter of increasing the retirement age of district-level judicial officers without any delay.
The petition from the Madhya Pradesh Judges Association has been pending before the Supreme Court since 2018, and the association has continuously been asking for the retirement age to be extended to 62 years.
With the Supreme Court making it clear that there is no legal issue in raising the age to 61 years, the final decision is now in the hands of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
The observation of the Supreme Court is important for many judicial officers in the state who are hoping for an increase in their retirement age.
The direction from the apex court may speed up the decision-making process, which has been delayed for years.
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To sum up, the Supreme Court said there is “no legal impediment” in raising the retirement age of judicial officers in Madhya Pradesh to 61 years, and it has asked the High Court to take a decision on this matter on the administrative side, preferably within two months.
CASE TITLE:
MADHYA PRADESH JUDGES ASSOCIATION vs. THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH W.P.(C) No. 000819 – / 2018
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