New Delhi, Dec 18: The Supreme Court has raised concerns over the growing trend of judges passing numerous orders just before retirement, likening it to a batter “hitting sixes” in the final overs of a cricket match.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, was hearing a plea by a Madhya Pradesh principal and district judge challenging his suspension just 10 days before his original retirement date, allegedly due to questionable judicial orders.
“Petitioner just before retirement started hitting sixes. It is an unfortunate trend. I do not want to elaborate on it,” observed the bench. The CJI noted that disciplinary proceedings cannot ordinarily be initiated against a judicial officer for erroneous orders, but raised the question: “What if the orders are palpably dishonest?”
The officer, who was due to retire on November 30, 2025, was suspended on November 19 over two disputed orders. Senior advocate Vipin Sanghi, representing him, argued that judicial officers cannot be suspended for passing orders that can be appealed and rectified by higher courts.
The bench also highlighted that the retirement age for judicial officers in Madhya Pradesh was recently extended from 60 to 61 years, meaning the officer’s new retirement date is November 30, 2026. The officer was unaware of this extension when passing the contested orders.
The Supreme Court declined to entertain the petition but allowed the officer to submit a representation to the high court seeking recall of the suspension. The bench directed the high court to decide the representation within four weeks.
The apex court also noted that seeking suspension details through the Right to Information (RTI) Act was inappropriate for a senior judicial officer and advised following proper representation procedures instead.
This observation by the Supreme Court underscores growing scrutiny over judicial conduct in the days leading up to retirement and stresses the distinction between genuine judicial errors and misconduct.