MP Judicial Officers To Retire At 61: Supreme Court Issues Major Interim Order

The Supreme Court has issued a significant interim order raising the retirement age of judicial officers in Madhya Pradesh from 60 to 61 years, bringing their superannuation limit closer to other state employees. The bench, led by Chief Justice B R Gavai along with Justices Prasanna B Varale and K Vinod Chandran, noted that the move aligns with a similar decision earlier taken by the Telangana High Court.

During the hearing, the court questioned why Madhya Pradesh judicial officers should be denied the benefit when the state government had already indicated its willingness to implement the change. The bench observed that both judicial officers and other state government employees are paid from the same public exchequer, yet the latter presently retire at the age of 62.

The court also pointed out the existing one-year difference between the retirement ages of high court judges and district court judges. While high court judges superannuate at 62, the revised retirement age for district court judges in Madhya Pradesh will now be 61.

The plea has been scheduled for a final hearing after four weeks.

During the proceedings, senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing the Madhya Pradesh High Court, opposed the request to increase the retirement age for district court judges. Earlier, on October 27, the Supreme Court had sought responses from the Madhya Pradesh government and the high court registry over the challenge to the refusal to raise the retirement age from 60 to 61.

In a previous observation on May 26, a bench headed by Chief Justice B R Gavai had stated that there was no legal hurdle in enhancing the retirement age of judicial officers in Madhya Pradesh to 61 years.