New Delhi: Justice Kurien Joseph of the Supreme Court of India said on Friday in his opening remarks at a conference of judges in the national capital that appointment of judges to the Supreme Court of India should be cleared by the government within two weeks and to high courts within three months.

At the conference on the backlog of cases in the judicial system, justice Joseph expressed concern over the delays that have characterised appointments to the higher judiciary

“The Government must avoid delay in making appointments,” he said. “As far as the high courts are concerned there should not be a delay of more than three months once the high court collegium sends names. While in the case of the Supreme Court, where the selection is made from the judges themselves, appointments must not be delayed beyond two weeks” after recommendations are made, he said.

Justice Joseph also pitched for raising the retirement age of judges to 70 years from 62 in high courts and 65 in the apex court. This could help reduce the pendency of cases, he said.

“I am in favour of increasing the age of retirement of judges of the high courts and the Supreme Court. The age of retirement for high court and Supreme Court judges must be the same and should be increased to 70 years so that the most productive years of a judge are utilised”.

Urging chief justices of the high courts to consult their senior colleagues on allocation of work and other issues, justice Jospeh said, “There is no doubt that the chief justice is the master of the roster, but as they (chief justices) are from outside the state, they should consult other senior judges of the high courts and bank on their experience and expertise in allocation of work and other issues. “