JAMMU, Oct 4: The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Jammu and Kashmir UT, has strongly criticised the decision of the Omar Abdullah Government to approve the proposal to raise the superannuation age of Judicial Officers from 60 to 62 years, calling it a setback for thousands of qualified law graduates awaiting opportunities in the subordinate judiciary.
In a statement issued today, the BSP said the decision amounted to a “crude joke” on candidates holding LL.B., LL.M. and Ph.D. degrees in law, many of whom have been waiting for years for a fair opportunity to enter judicial services in Jammu and Kashmir. The party argued that extending the tenure of serving officers and bringing back those who retired after March 2026 would further delay fresh recruitment.
The BSP maintained that the move should not be presented as a judicial reform, asserting that extending existing tenures would reduce opportunities for younger and qualified candidates. It said the issue was not merely one of additional expenditure but of employment opportunities being postponed or potentially blocked for a large pool of trained law graduates.
The party further argued that comparisons with the retirement ages of judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts cannot be used to justify extending the service of subordinate judicial officers. According to the BSP, any shortage of judicial officers should be addressed through timely recruitment rather than extension of existing tenures.
It said that if pendency of cases was the concern, the government should focus on filling vacancies, improving court infrastructure and strengthening case management mechanisms. The BSP emphasised that open and competitive recruitment was the appropriate way to address vacancies in the subordinate judiciary.
The party demanded withdrawal of the proposal, stating that no retired Judicial Officer should be recalled under the decision. It also sought early filling of all existing and forthcoming vacancies through a transparent recruitment process open to eligible candidates.
The BSP further demanded that the government make public the number of posts that would remain blocked, the number of officers who would benefit from the extension, and the recruitment cycles likely to be delayed as a result of the decision.
The party asserted that employment opportunities in the judiciary are a public and constitutional opportunity and urged the government not to compromise the prospects of thousands of qualified young law graduates for the benefit of a limited number of existing or recently retired officers.