The Supreme Court on Thursday issued an interim order raising the retirement age of Madhya Pradesh judicial officers from 60 to 61, marking an important development for the subordinate judiciary. The order was passed by a bench of CJI B.R. Gavai, Justice Prasanna B. Varale, and Justice K. Vinod Chandran. The Court referred to a similar decision earlier taken by the Telangana High Court and questioned why Madhya Pradesh judicial officers were being denied the same benefit when the state government seemed open to the idea.
Comparison with other government employees
The Supreme Court highlighted the clear difference between the retirement ages of judicial officers and other employees in the Madhya Pradesh government. While most state government employees retire at 62, judicial officers were still retiring at 60. The bench noted, “Judicial officers and other state employees are paid from the same public exchequer,” and pointed out that keeping the retirement age at 61 for District Judges creates a reasonable one-year gap from High Court judges, who retire at 62.
Opposition from MP high court
Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing the Madhya Pradesh High Court, opposed the request to raise the retirement age. The matter has been under the Supreme Court’s consideration for several months. On October 27, the apex court had sought responses from both the state government and the High Court registry on the plea challenging the refusal to increase the retirement age. Back on May 26, a bench led by Justice B.R. Gavai had remarked that there was no legal barrier to increasing the retirement age of judicial officers to 61. The latest direction is interim in nature, and the Court has scheduled the matter for a final hearing after four weeks.
Interim relief until final order
Until the final hearing is completed, the retirement age for all judicial officers in Madhya Pradesh will remain at 61, as directed by the Supreme Court.
