Supreme Court Directs States to Raise Retirement Age of District Judiciary to 62

Exam-focused facts from the 5 September 2026 current affairs briefing.

Key facts

The Supreme Court directed states to raise the retirement age of judicial officers in district judiciary from 60 to 62 years.
The move aims to address the backlog of 5.18 crore pending cases in district courts.
Seven states—Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal—have agreed to enhance the retirement age.
States that have agreed must amend their service rules within two months.
Other states and union territories have been given two weeks to decide on the enhancement.
The court said the financial burden of the enhancement is negligible compared to the benefits to the justice system.