Enhancing retirement age for judges based on performance not practical idea: Govt tells Parliament panel

Subject: Polity

Section: Judiciary

Context:

The government has told a parliamentary panel that extending the retirement age of Supreme Court and High Court judges based on their performance may not be practical.

More on news:

The government said that Enhancing retirement age for judges will “further erode” the powers of Parliament and may also result in “undue favoritism”.
The committee headed by BJP’s Sushil Kumar Modi had recommended a system of appraisal which may be devised and put in place by the SC collegium, before any judge is recommended for enhancement of their tenure.
The Standing Committee on Law and Personnel, in its report on ‘Judicial Processes and their Reforms’, had recommended a performance appraisal system for extending the tenure of judges of the Supreme Court and high courts beyond the existing retirement age.

Constitutional provisions:

According to constitutional provisions, at present, while Supreme Court judges retire at the age of 65 years, judges of the 25 high courts demit office at 62.
According to Article 124(2) of the Constitution, the age of retirement for Supreme Court judges is 65.
As per Article 217(1) of the Constitution, High Court judges retire at 62.
Initially, the retirement age of High Court judges was 60, which was later in 1963 increased to 62 through the 114th constitutional amendment.
Article 124(7) of the Constitution bars judges of the Supreme Court from practicing before any forum
For High Court judges, an amendment was brought in 1956 to allow practice before the Supreme Court and High Courts other than the one they served in under Article 220

Challenges relating to extension of retirement age:

It will result in empowering the SCC (Supreme Court Collegium) for the evaluation of the judges at the time of giving extensions on individual basis.
It will further erode the powers of Parliament and empower (the) Judiciary through the SCC to take decisions on the enhancement of age.
The Department of Justice in the law ministry also said that this step may also result in “undue favoritism” and make the judges “susceptible to pressures”.
It would create an avoidable burden on the limited manpower resources in the Judiciary and the Executive, who are involved in the appointment process.

Committee Recommendations:

In 1974, the 58th report of the Law Commission recommended bringing parity between the age of retirement of judges of the High Court and Supreme Court.
In 2002, Justice Venkatachaliah Report – the report of the National Commission to review the working of the Constitution,also recommended that the age of retirement should be increased for judges of High Courts and Supreme Court to 65 and 68, respectively.