Six new CJIs in six years likely, goes against law panel’s suggestion
NEW DELHI: India will see six Chief Justices in a span of six years beginning this year. The current Chief Justice of India N V Ramana will head the institution for a year or so only. With a sanctioned strength of 34 judges, six positions of judges are lying vacant in the Supreme Court and four judges will retire by the end of this year.
Three more judges will retire by August 2022, and with this, CJI Ramana will have an opportunity to recommend the names of around 13 Supreme Court judges during his tenure ending next year in August. The line of succession till 2027 will also see the youngest Justice D Y Chandrachud as the Chief Justice of India, who will head the institution for over two years.
With the exception of unforeseen circumstances, such as death, early retirement or impeachment, the order of upcoming Chief Justices of India is all set. With the Law Commission of India’s recommendation that the Chief Justice of India should have a minimum tenure of two years in the apex court, an analysis of the future CJIs based on their seniority reveals that no judge would be able to stay there beyond a year and a half.
At the age of 65, Supreme Court judges retire. But for becoming Chief Justice of India, the date on which the judge was appointed to the apex court plays a crucial role rather than his age. In case, two judges are elevated to the Supreme Court the same date, the one who takes oath first will get the priority followed by the judge who has put in more years of high court service.
Such a short tenure of the judges in the top court that is fighting with the pendency of over three crore cases can hamper the chances of clearing the backlog. It can also reduce the chances for a CJI to implement new changes and bring in a policy that will help in improving the present system.
However, if we compare the tenure of judges in other countries, we find that Indian judges have a much shorter tenure. Judges retire at the age of 75 in the UK, 70 years in Canada, Australia, Belgium and Norway. They work for lifetime in United States, Russia, New Zealand and Iceland, subject to physical and mental fitness.
The last increase in retirement age of high court judges was made in 1963, when it was raised from 60 years to 62 years. The proposal to increase the age further was mooted in 2008 by the then Law Minister HR Bhardwaj.