NEW DELHI, Feb 14:
In a last push for the passage of a bill which seeks to increase the retirement age of High Court judges from 62 to 65 years, government has asked the Lok Sabha secretariat to bring up the legislation pending since December, 2011 for consideration and passage in this session.
The Winter session of Parliament – the last of the present Lok Sabha – will conclude on February 21. It leaves the Government with only six sittings to pass the Constitutional amendment bill.
If the bill fails to be passed in this session, it will lapse with the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.
On February 5, the Law Ministry had sent a notice to the Lok Sabha Secretary General to bring up the bill for consideration and passage.
The Constitution (114th Amendment) Bill, 2010 was taken up for discussion in Lok Sabha on December 28, 2011 amid pandemonium on Telangana issue. However, the discussions remained inconclusive.
On the same day, however, the lower house passed the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, which seeks to establish a credible and expedient mechanism for investigating individual complaints of misbehaviour or incapacity of a judge of the Supreme Court or of a High Court and to regulate the procedure for such investigation.
If the retirement age of High Court judges is increased to 65, it will match up to the one existing for Supreme Court judges.
The measure will help around 639 judges of the 24 High Courts in the country.
Sources said though the Law Ministry is keen on pushing the legislation, various political parties will have to be taken into confidence as constitutional amendment is needed for the purpose. A constitutional amendment needs support of two-thirds of the members present and voting in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
The main Opposition BJP has contended that if the superannuation age of HC judges is to be increased, then the retired judges should not get any post-retirement assignments.
The retirement age of High Court judges was last increased was in 1963 from 60 to 62 years.
The proposal to further increase it was first mooted by then Law Minister H R Bhardwaj in April 2008. He had initiated discussion with the opposition on the issue, but lack of political consensus led to the issue being put on the backburner.
“Raising the retirement age of High Court Judges from 62 to 65 years will also aid in elimination of vacancies,” a Law Ministry document on legal and judicial reforms approved by the Union Cabinet in November 2009 had said.
Over 40 lakh cases are pending in the High Courts which are facing a shortfall of 267 judges, as per the latest official data. While the sanctioned strength is 906, the High Courts are working with 639 judges.
“Increase in the retirement age of High Court judges would restrict the occurrence of new vacancies on account of superannuation for the next three years. This would have a clear impact on reduction of pendency of cases in the High Courts.
“Moreover, it will facilitate utilisation of the knowledge, experience and wisdom of the judges for a longer period,” Law Minister Kapil Sibal had told the Lok Sabha recently in a written reply. (PTI)
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