What is the maximum age limit of a High Court judge?
- (a)60 years
- (b)62 years
- (c)58 years
- (d)56 years
Correct — B, 62 years. Article 217(1) of the Constitution fixes the retirement age of a High Court judge at 62 years. This is one of the few numerical facts fixed directly by the Constitution itself rather than by ordinary law.
- (a)60 years — Was the original retirement age for a High Court judge before the Constitution (Fifteenth Amendment) Act, 1963 raised it to 62 — a tempting but dated figure, not the current one.
- (c)58 years — Not the age fixed for High Court judges by the Constitution.
- (d)56 years — Not the age fixed for High Court judges by the Constitution.
Article 217(1) fixes the retirement age of a High Court judge at 62 years. A Supreme Court judge, by contrast, retires later — at 65 years under Article 124(2) — so the two figures are frequently mixed up.
The trap here works two ways: candidates confuse the current age (62) with the pre-1963 age (60, before the Fifteenth Amendment raised it), or with the Supreme Court's higher age (65). Lock the pair: High Court = 62, Supreme Court = 65.
- Article 217(1): a High Court judge holds office until 62 years of age
- Raised from 60 to 62 by the Constitution (Fifteenth Amendment) Act, 1963
- Supreme Court judge retires at 65 years (Article 124(2)) — the commonly confused figure
- A High Court judge may resign earlier by writing to the President (Article 217(1)(a))
- Confusing the High Court age (62) with the Supreme Court age (65)
- Assuming the pre-1963 age (60) is still current
MPPSC/UPSC ask the bare number directly, or embed it inside a statement list alongside the Supreme Court's 65 to test the mix-up.
Consider the following statements regarding the High Courts in India: I. There are eighteen High Courts in the country. II. Three of them have jurisdiction over more than one State. III. No Union Territory has a High Court of its own. IV. Judges of the High Court hold office till the age of 62. Which of these statements is/are correct?
- (a) I, II and IV
- (b) II and III
- (c) I and IV
- (d) IV only
Answer(a) I, II and IV
Statement IV of this UPSC 2001 question directly tests the same fact — High Court judges hold office till 62.
- practice — not a real PYQ
What is the retirement age of a Supreme Court judge in India?
- (a)60 years
- (b)62 years
- (c)65 years
- (d)No fixed age
Answer(c) 65 years — Article 124(2).
- practice — not a real PYQ
Before the Constitution (Fifteenth Amendment) Act, 1963, what was the retirement age of a High Court judge?
- (a)58 years
- (b)60 years
- (c)62 years
- (d)65 years
Answer(b) 60 years — raised to 62 by the 1963 amendment.