The Union Cabinet on Friday gave its nod for legislation to raise the retirement age of High Court judges from 62 to 65. There are about 630 judges in the 21 High Courts in the country.
The last increase in retirement age of High Court judges was made in 1963, when it was raised from 60 years to 62.
The proposal to hike the age further was first mooted in April 2008 by the then Law Minister H.R. Bharadwaj.
He had initiated discussions with Opposition parties on the issue. But due to lack of consensus, it was put on the backburner.
Political parties have to be taken on board as the issue involved a constitutional amendment and this requires the support of two-third of the members of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
