Supreme Court raises retirement age of MP judicial officers to 61; Details here

The Supreme Court has raised the retirement age of judicial officers in Madhya Pradesh from 60 to 61 years. The bench, led by CJI BR Gavai, cited similar decisions from Telangana High Court and highlighted parity with other state employees. The final hearing on the petition will take place in four weeks.

Post Published By: Sona Saini

Updated : 20 November 2025, 2:23 PM IST

Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday passed an interim order raising the retirement age of judicial officers in Madhya Pradesh from 60 to 61. A bench comprising Chief Justice B.R. Gavai, Justice Prasanna B. Varale, and Justice K. Vinod Chandran delivered the ruling.

The Supreme Court, citing a similar decision by the Telangana High Court, asked why judicial officers should not be granted this relief if the state government is willing.

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Equal Pay and State Employees' Examples

The bench noted that the salaries of both judicial officers and other state government employees are paid from the same government treasury. The court further noted that the retirement age for other state government employees is 62.

Furthermore, there is already a one-year difference between the retirement ages of High Court and District Court judges. The Supreme Court has now taken steps to equalize this age.

Final Hearing After Four Weeks

High Court judges retire at 62. Now, District Court judges in Madhya Pradesh will retire at 61.

The bench has scheduled the final hearing on this petition after four weeks.

High Court lawyer opposes

Senior lawyer Gopal Sankaranarayanan appeared on behalf of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. He opposed the increase in the retirement age for district court judges.

On October 27, the Supreme Court sought responses from the Madhya Pradesh government and the High Court Registry. This petition challenged the refusal to increase the retirement age of judicial officers from 60 to 61 years.

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Previous Bench Orders

On May 26, a bench headed by CJI Gavai stated that there was no legal impediment to increasing the retirement age of judicial officers in Madhya Pradesh to 61 years.

This interim order by the Supreme Court is a relief for judicial officers in Madhya Pradesh. It will establish parity between district court judges and High Court judges and give senior judicial officers more time until retirement.