Have uniform retirement age for High Court and Supreme Court judges: PIL in Supreme Court

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition filed in the Supreme Court seeks directions to the Central government to have a uniform retirement age for judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court..The PIL has been filed by BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay invoking Article 32 of the Constitution. .The petitioner has urged the top court to invoke its plenary constitutional powers and declare that Judges of High Courts should retire only at the age of 65 years until the Centre takes steps to reduce the pendency of cases from 15 to 3 years..Presently, the retirement age for High Court Judges is 62 years, whereas Supreme Court Judges retire at the age of 65 years. .Upadhyay states that the facts constituting cause of action arose on March 25, 2021 when Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in the Rajya Sabha that there is no proposal to increase the retirement age of High Court Judges.."It is necessary to state that the Bill, to increase the retirement age of judges of High Courts, was introduced in 2010 but lapsed in 2014 due to dissolution of Loksabha," reads the plea further..The petitioner also submits that due to early retirement, the finest advocates are not willing to become judges, owing to which the injury to citizens is large. ."Hence, rule of law guaranteed under Article 14 and right to speedy justice guaranteed under Article 21, is being brazenly offended," states the plea..The prayer for a uniform retirement age for Judges has been further buttressed by stating that such an action is needed to maintain the autonomy of High Courts.."If there is uniformity in retirement age, the Judges of the High Court will discharge judicial work more independently and without any expectation to move the Supreme Court," reads the plea..Further, to minimize the apprehension of subordination between the Supreme Court and High Courts, it is appropriate to equate the retirement age of High Court Judges with that of Supreme Court Judges, Upadhyay submits..The PIL adds that finest lawyers don’t want to become Judge of the High Courts because "instead of continuously giving valuable services to the nation," High Court Judges are compelled to retire at a very early age i.e., 62 years.