SC says 14 states so far agree to raise retirement age of judicial officers from 60 to 62

While the retirement age of Supreme Court judges is 65, High Court judges retire at the age of 62. Representative file image. | Photo credit: Sushil Kumar Verma

The Supreme Court on Monday expressed satisfaction that as many as 14 states agreed to raise the retirement age of district court clerks from 60 to 62, and declined to bring up for urgent hearing separate challenges by judges who are on the verge of retirement or have just retired.

“This is about the persuasive jurisdiction of this court. The issue is between the Supreme Court and the states,” said a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohan, while declining to list the individual pleas of the judges who have to relinquish office after attaining the age of 60.

The CJI said so far 14 states have agreed to raise the retirement age to 62 and “we hope more will follow”. The tribunal said that although it has the said petition for hearing, it did not approve the filing of individual pleas by the court officers.

Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar mentioned in the listing plea that judicial officers are retiring every day.

On September 4, the Bench directed states to raise the retirement age of judicial officers from 60 to 62 years.

The bench said judicial officers in seven states — Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal — who retired on or after March 31 this year, will be given the option to rejoin the judiciary if they have not already secured subsequent employment.

Those states which have agreed to increase the age of judicial officers are directed to amend the service rules and increase the retirement age for judicial service to 62 years, subject to assessment of the suitability of the judicial officer concerned by the High Court, the Bench said, adding that such changes should preferably be made within two months.

“Pending the amendment of the rules, no judicial officer in the above states who has attained the age of 60 shall retire until he attains the age of 62, subject to the assessment of his fitness and performance by the appropriate High Court,” it said.

The Supreme Court ordered Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Keralam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Urisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, Tripura, Uttarsh Delhi and Uttarsh Delhi Kashmir and Puducherry to reconsider their decision to increase the retirement age of judicial officers.

The bench had earlier said that states cannot cite financial burden to oppose the increase in the retirement age of judicial officers. She asked state governments to revisit the issue of raising the retirement age of judges.

The bench was hearing a petition seeking a uniform increase in the retirement age of district judges from 60 to 62 across the country.

While the retirement age of Supreme Court judges is 65, High Court judges retire at the age of 62.

The issue arises in the backdrop of the Supreme Court’s 2002 judgment that refused to accept the recommendation of the Justice K Jagannath Shetty Commission, which proposed raising the retirement age of district judges to 62 years.

Since then, some states, including Telangana and Madhya Pradesh, have moved to raise the retirement age.

Published – 26 Oct 2026 13:03 IST