India, Nov. 20 -- Chief Justice of India BR Gavai on Thursday remarked, in a lighter vein, that a "race" seems to exist among high court judges to secure elevation to the Supreme Court, since it brings three additional years of service.

He made the comment while hearing a petition by the Madhya Pradesh Judges Association seeking to raise the retirement age of judicial officers from 60 to 61.

"When one is chief justice of a high court, one is the king of the entire state. At the Supreme Court, you end up in a two-bedroom guest house shared with others for months," the CJI said, adding that the incentive lay not in housing but in the extended retirement age of 65, compared to 62 in the high courts.

A bench of CJI Gavai and Justices PB Va...