New Delhi: Union Cabinet on Friday cleared a constitutional amendment bill that aims to raise the retirement age of High Court judges from 62 to 65,putting them at par with Supreme Court judges. The bill needs the support of two-thirds in each House of Parliament in order to become law and this may lead to some tough negotiations with the Opposition which has its own prescriptions for judicial reforms. The bill stems from a proposal which in its original form had sought to raise the retirement age also of SC judges by three years.
The move aims to end the embarassing situations the Chief Justice of India and the collegium of judges regularly have to face because of strong lobbying by HC judges and chief justices for elevation to the SC prior to their retirement at the age of 62 years.Elevation of an HC judge or a CJ to the SC means another three years on the Bench.
The government as well as many in the Opposition felt that once the retirement age of HC judges was increased and put at par with that of SC judges,it would eliminate the lure for extra three years and along with it the lobbying for appointment to the SC. There are indications,however,that the Opposition may leverage its numbers to seek to nudge the government to consider bringing in an amendment to bar retired SC judges from being considered for post-retirement tenures.
Those behind the move argue that governments can use post-retirement perks to seek to influence judiciary. As against a sanctioned strength of 895,there are around 650 HC judges and,at a given time,there are at least 20 to 30 judges aspiring to fill two to three vacancies in the SC. In the last three years,several judges appointed to the SC had just three or four years of tenure before attaining the age of superannuation at 65 years.This means,HC judges or chief justices were elevated to the SC just prior to retiring at the age of 62 years.
Nearly seven eyars ago,Justice Venkatachaliah-headed Committee to Review the Working of the Constitution had suggested increasing the retirement age of SC judges to 68 years and that of HC judges to 65 years.
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Ktaka CJ Dinakaran transferred to Sikkim
New Delhi: The President on Friday transferred Karnataka High Court's controversial Chief Justice P D Dinakaran,who is facing inquiry pending an impeachment motion in Parliament for corruption charges,to Sikkim High Court as CJ. This transfer virtually triggered a musical chairs of sorts involving Chief Justices of HCs of Sikkim and Uttarakhand.The vacancy created by Justice Dinakaran's transfer will be filled by Uttarakhand CJ J S Kheher.And the present CJ of Sikkim Barin Ghosh has been transferred as CJ of Uttarakhand to fill the vacancy created by Justice Kheher's transfer.To fill the vacancy of Jharkhand CJ after elevation of Justice Gyan Sudha Misra to Supreme Court,the government agreed with the collegium's decision to post Gujarat HC judge Bhagwati Prasad as CJ of Jharkhand HC.
The transfer of Justice Dinakaran to Sikkim was first sent to the government in April but it was initially reluctant to effect so many transfers of Chief Justices.
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(source-toi)
