Judges : Retirement age

Article 128 of the Indian constitution states that, “The Chief Justice of India may, at any time, with the previous consent of the President, request any person who has held the office of a judge of the Supreme Court or of the Federal Court (or who has held the office of a Judge of a High Court and is duly qualified for appointment as a Judge of the Supreme Court) to sit and act as a Judge of the Supreme Court and every such person so requested shall, while so sitting and acting, be entitled to such allowances as the President may by order determine and have all the jurisdiction, powers and privileges of, but shall not otherwise be deemed to be, a judge of that court.” This article aptly provides solution to the on-going problem of pending cases and the shortage of judges. However, this Article fails to make much difference as most of the retired judges prefer to work with private firms rather than activating this very Article by serving the courts beyond their tenure.

As of 2011, the total number of cases pending across India is more than 3.50 crores with around 55,000 cases pending in the Supreme Court itself. The total shortage of judges at high court level crosses a mark of 250. Recently, Prashant Bhushan also raised his concern over this and said: “…retired judges must not be permitted any role as long as they continue to chair tribunals.” Today, only a handful of reputed judges contribute to law-making (and law amending) processes after their retirement. Most of them serve the corporates, mostly acting as legal consultants. So much so that it is rare to find retired judges giving opinions on laws and legal system of the nation.

In simple words, the thought-leadership concept is rarely visible among judges. In this light, recently the Punjab and Haryana High Court is planning to involve retired judges for solving pending cases. For instance, the Allahabad High Court of has around 200 retired judges who can preside over the pending cases which are to the tune of 10 lakh or more. The problem gets enhanced manifold as the service period of judges in India is quite less than what it is in other countries. In the UK, judges retire at 75 while in Australia and Japan a judge can serve by the age of 70. However, in India, Judges of the apex court can serve till a maximum age of 65 and the judges of high courts have to retire by the age of 62! This is in spite of the fact that most of these judges continue to work with private firms years after their retirement.

If our courts can rope in judges for a few more years, a lot of pending cases can be solved with their help. And above all, judges, especially of the apex court, serving the private firms should immediately be asked to serve the judiciary at different levels under the article 128 of the Indian constitution. The law ministry should also encourage the top judges of the country to conduct conferences and share their thoughts through various mediums which will in turn refurbish our tainted judicial system and modernise the archaic legal system of the country.