The Supreme Court has given temporary relief to judicial officers in Madhya Pradesh by increasing their retirement age from 60 to 61. The order was passed on Thursday by a bench led by Chief Justice B.R. Gavai, along with Justice Prasanna B. Varale and Justice K. Vinod Chandran.
The Court said there was no clear reason for the state to deny this benefit when it had already shown willingness to extend the retirement age. The bench also noted that other state government employees in Madhya Pradesh retire at 62, while judicial officers were being asked to retire earlier. The judges said both groups are paid from the same public fund, so the difference was unfair.
The Court added that allowing district judges to retire at 61 keeps a balanced one-year gap from High Court judges, who retire at 62.
Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the Madhya Pradesh High Court, opposed the request to raise the retirement age. The matter has been under review for months. Last month, the Supreme Court asked the state government and High Court registry to explain why the request was denied.
Earlier in May, another bench led by Justice Gavai had said there was no legal barrier to increasing the retirement age. The case will now come up for a final hearing in four weeks. Until then, the new retirement age of 61 will apply.
