The Central government has informed the Parliament that the Indian Constitution did not have any provision of cooling-off period for judges after their retirement before joining a statutory body or holding a government post.
Replying to a query by AAP MP Raghav Chadha in the Rajya Sabha, Union Law and Justice Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said the tribunals and all statutory bodies were set up under the rule of law. All of them needed experts as per the qualifications set for the respective statutory bodies.
On December 5, the AAP leader had made some suggestions to the Rajya Sabha regarding the post-retirement posts taken up by judges.
Noting that post-retirement posts raised concerns about conflict of interest, executive interference in the judicial process and independence of the judiciary, Chadha suggested a cooling-off period of two years for judges after retirement, before they took up any executive or political position, or chairmanship of a committee.
He further recommended an increase in the pension of judges to prevent them from taking up any post-retirement positions. The AAP MP also suggested that the appointment of judges post-retirement should be based on merit and free from political influence.
Pointing to instances where retired judges were appointed to political or executive positions, including as Rajya Sabha members or Governors, Chadha said this raised concerns among the public about the independence of the judiciary.
Replying to the suggestions, Meghwal said that the appointment of judges was governed by Articles 124, 217, and 224 of the Constitution, as well as Supreme Court rulings from 1993 and 1998.
The Law Minister added that there was no proposal to extend the retirement age or introduce a cooling-off period for judges.
At present, the retirement age of Supreme Court judges is 65 years, High Court judges is 62, and district court judges is 60 years.
The Union of India further apprised the Parliament about the significant backlog of cases in the judiciary.
It said as of November 28, 82,396 cases were pending in the Supreme Court, 61,11,165 in High Courts, and 4,55,98,240 in district courts across the country.
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