Noting that the government cannot remain stuck in British-era criteria on retirement age and service conditions of Armed Forces’ personnel, the Supreme Court has asked it to consider setting up an expert panel to reassess the criteria for defining “highly skilled” India Coast Guard officers.”It is high time that these regulations governing the service conditions and retirement age are reviewed. The government cannot be stuck with the conditions envisaged and drafted in the British era. Nobody these days can imagine the role played by coast guards. The current retirement age appears to follow an old pattern, a Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant told Additional Solicitor General Archana Pathak Dave.While hearing the Centre’s petition challenging the Delhi High Court’s order quashing Rule 20 of the Coast Guard Rules, 1986 — which provided that officers in the rank of Commandant and below would retire at 57 years, while those above the rank of Commandant at 60 years, the Bench late last month stayed the high court’s verdict.In its November 24, 2025 order, the Delhi High Court ruled that the retirement age of 60 should be uniformly applied to all the ranks of Indian Coast Guard officers. The high court struck down the rule that prescribed different retirement ages for different ranks.Maintaining that experience mattered a lot in such a sophisticated and highly-skilled robust force, the top court said the Centre should not be “too static or conservative” in its approach to service conditions of the Coast Guard.It issued notice to the respondents asking them to file their responses within two weeks. Directing the Centre to consider setting up an expert committee to revisit their conditions of service, including the age of recruitment and age of retirement, the top court asked it to submit a report and posted the matter for further hearing on April 13.The high court erred in comparing the Indian Coast Guard—which comes under the Defence Ministry – with other forces such as the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Dave submitted.The working of the Indian Coast Guard was completely different from that of other forces as the former faced harsher conditions at sea similar to the Navy which required a younger workforce, she pointed out.