Srinagar, Oct 3: The Jammu and Kashmir Government has cleared a proposal to raise the retirement age of judicial officers in the Union Territory from 60 to 62 years with effect from March 2026, according to a report published by the Daily Excelsior.
The move, once formally notified, will not only extend the service of serving judicial officers but also allow judicial officers who retired from March 2026 onwards to return to service, subject to the applicable provisions.
The proposal was cleared by the J&K Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who also holds the Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs portfolio, and has subsequently received approval from Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, the report said.
However, as the proposal concerns matters relating to the judiciary, the file has again been sent to the Lieutenant Governor for approval before issuance of a formal order by the Law Department.
The proposed change would bring the retirement age of judicial officers in line with that of High Court judges, who superannuate at 62, while Supreme Court judges retire at 65.
The proposal was reportedly initiated by the Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and was approved by the Cabinet. Since the proposed effective date is March 2026, judicial officers who have retired between March 2026 and the date of issuance of the formal order would also stand to benefit, the report said.
The development comes days after the Supreme Court urged States and Union Territories to consider increasing the age of superannuation of judicial officers in the district judiciary to 62 years.
The Supreme Court bench had observed that extending the retirement age would not impose an additional financial burden on governments since the judicial officers concerned were already in service. The bench also urged States to reconsider the issue irrespective of the retirement age applicable to other government employees.
The proposed change is expected to benefit a significant number of judicial officers in Jammu and Kashmir, according to the report.
